Healing You
by Asukai Haruka
Summary: Megurine Luka and Hatsune Miku are childhood friends, but Luka has to move away. Luka promises to return and does so six years later, but what will she find waiting for her? Will Miku still be there, and most importantly, will Miku still be the same Miku?
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Here I am with my first multi-chaptered story. Please be patient with me and point out where I can do better to make reading a more enjoyable experience for you all! Still quite a dinosaur when it comes to technology T^T

Luka's POV

"Luka-chan!" Miku's protesting voice makes me laugh as I continue running down the path, one of her red and black rubber bands clutched in my hands.

"That's not funny!" she complains yet again, pelting after me with half her hair wild over her back. I just grin back at her, waving the rubber band triumphantly over my head.

I turn to face forwards again, narrowly avoiding running into a tree, veering off the path and into the familiar trails of the forest I love. I have been living in this town, tucked away at the top of one of the smaller mountains of a huge chain and half-surrounded by forest, since I was born twelve years ago. And for seven years of that time, I have been friends with Hatsune Miku. She is a petite little girl with the most amazing turquoise hair and eyes, four years my junior, and always wears her hair in twintails tied up high. Her voice is high and sweet, like a bird's, and due to her cheerful but shy disposition, she has often been bullied. I am her protector, and the only friend she's got.

However, that is all going to change today. I am leading her to our favorite place to say goodbye to her, hoping to have at least one more memorable day with my twintailed little friend. My steps falter and she almost catches up to me, but I quickly pick up the pace and hurtle into the bushes. Miku's cry of frustration makes me giggle slightly; I am going to miss everything about her when I'm gone.

Shaking the bad thoughts out of my head, I turn past the stunted elm to our favorite place, a little clearing we found while exploring the forest with her dog, Ken-chan, the largest Akita-Inu I have ever seen. He towers over us and has a bark so loud we can feel it rumble through our bodies. The sunlight falls over the emerald grass, it is a pretty green, but the color of Miku's hair is prettier. Just as I flop down on my back, an out of breath Miku arrives panting and pouting at the edge of the clearing.

"Luka-chan, give it back..." she whines, giving me the puppy-dog look that melts my heart and makes me admit defeat. I toss the rubber band back to her, and she ties her hair up again.

"Nee, Miku-chan," I look up at the sky, watching the clouds drift across the brilliant blue surface, the same blue as my eyes and Miku's favorite color. She looks at me, head tilted the way she does when she's confused, and I know she has picked up the serious tone in my voice.

"I'm moving," I say, not the type to beat around the bush. I watch her eyes widen and pain fill them, her hands start to shake as she asks in a trembling voice, "You're joking, aren't you, Luka-chan?"

"Miku-" She cuts me off, the trembling in her voice has increased and I know she is about to cry, "Tell me you're joking… you can't go… please…"

"I'm sorry, Miku…" I drop the honorific completely and approach her slowly, "It's true."

Just as her knees give way I am there for her, my arms wrapped around her small body as she sobs into my shoulder. "You can't go, Luka! I don't have anyone else but you; I don't WANT anyone else but you!"

Tears fill my eyes as I bury my face in her hair, inhaling the sweet scent of Miku. The smell of cold, fresh mountain air and flowers… It will be the scent that will invade my dreams in the years to come. Patting her head as gently as I can, I say fiercely, "Miku, I promise you I'll come back for you. When I'm eighteen, I qualify as an adult, and I can make my own choices. And my choice is to be with you. So wait for me, okay?"

She looks up at me, biting her lip to prevent more tears from leaking down her cheeks, and replies, "Okay. I'll wait for you, Luka, for as long as it takes."

I smooth her hair back and press a kiss into her forehead, hearing her whimper a soft, "I love you" into my shoulder. Crying myself, I repeat those three words to her.

That was six years ago, and the smell of Miku still invades my dreams every night. I have met many pretty girls and handsome boys over the course of those six years, but none have appealed to me the way Miku does. Lying in bed waiting impatiently for the sunrise, I toss and turn restlessly. It is my birthday today, and I am moving back to my old hometown. Dad has rented me a place there and from daylight on I am an independent woman. I skipped grades in Elementary and High schools and already have my college degrees in Japanese Literature, Music and English, I have no career path just yet and my parents are willing to wait a little longer. Miku is my first priority now; I wonder how she has changed. I never managed to find the Hatsune family's phone number, and "Hatsune Miku" always came up blank on all the social media I tried out. I tried just plain "Miku" but even then came up empty-handed. I guess that is what you get when you live in a village in the mountains.

I wonder… Does Miku still love me? Or does she have a boyfriend or a girlfriend? A sweetheart like Miku will definitely have boys, and girls, lining the street outside her house, what if she has completely forgotten about me and this promise? Is it strange that I still remember every moment of that last day together, down to the way the sunlight struck her face and illuminated her tears?

I sigh, turning once more and then sitting up suddenly. The cat-face shaped wall clock stares nonchalantly at me, _Try to scare me if you like, I am not speeding up. It is 2:18am, tick tock, tick tock… _I feel like punching the smug look off that clock, but wisely hold myself back. My mom got me that as a gift from China, I should be nicer to it. The clock seems to say, _Yeah, you should be nicer to me, Luka-chan, and stop staring at me. You're making me nervous; I'm going to slow down…_

Argh! Megurine Luka, you are going crazy, imagining a clock talking to you! I flop back down on the bed and stare off into empty space again; thinking of what could possibly happen when I go to find Miku tomorrow, uhm, today.

The worst-case scenario will be a blank look and a "Who are you?" I guess, and next worst will be "The Hatsune family doesn't live here anymore" or something along those lines. Or maybe Miku will recognize me and is willing to be friends with me again, but no longer loves me. She might have a lover to introduce me to, or she might have gone down the wrong path and takes drugs, sleeps around and drinks too much. Even so, I will still love her, and I will try my best to win her over again.

If she remembers me and still loves me, it will be the best. If she opens the door and starts crying like she definitely would if she still is the same Miku, listen to my awkward "I'm back" and then throws her arms around me sobbing, "I've been waiting, what took you so long?" I will be in heaven. But what are the chances of things going my way? With my luck, everything that can possibly go wrong will probably go wrong.

I sit up suddenly and stare at the clock, which gloats, _Nice try, Megurine, but it is 2:20am. Happy waiting._ I scowl at it and flop back on my bed with a heavy sigh. I majorly hate time right now, and all the rules that govern it. I can no longer remember them; I haven't taken science in a while.

My phone rings and I pick it up immediately, "Hello?"

"Whoa, why so aggressive, Luka-chan? Did I wake you up?" I growl in response to the overly-cheerful voice of my overly-cheerful blond friend, Lily.

"I couldn't sleep," I admit, and Lily sighs, "It figures that you stress yourself out on your birthday. You do that every year, Luka-chan, what's up?"

Since I have nothing to do and this will definitely make the dreaded time pass, I pour it out to Lily, along with my worries about Miku's reaction and what can generally go wrong tom—today morning. Lily listens patiently, not interrupting at all, which comes as quite a surprise. I wonder if the blond has fallen asleep listening to me, she usually is never quiet.

"Well, Luka-chan, have you considered… that you are in love with this girl?" Lily asks at last, making me blush. I have left out the confession part, after all, for fear of how Lily will react to my sexuality. Still, Lily is my best friend, and she is so loose about sex that she probably, _hopefully_, will not be offended by it.

"Yeah… She confessed to me back then, and I… returned her feelings…" my heart is doing somersaults in my chest right now. If Lily is disgusted, I have no idea what I can do. Still, I cannot hide my sexuality from my friends forever.

"Is that why you don't look at anyone else, be it guy or girl?" Lily asks, she does not sound disgusted or surprised by my sexuality; there is only curiosity in her tone.

"Uhm… yeah…" I reply awkwardly, not sure of what I should say. Why is she acting so neutral, so… _normal_?

Lily squeals, nearly bursting my eardrums in the process, "Don't sound so awkward, I'm bisexual, by the way. This girl must be quite the looker to catch your attention for so long, Luka-chan!"

"Her name is Miku. Hatsune Miku," I reply, smiling slightly because even though I said her name minutes ago, Lily cannot remember. She is bad at remembering names, and homework. It slightly surprises me that Lily is bisexual, but I kind of expected that. I have often heard her drooling after both boys and girls in school, but I never wondered much about it.

"That's a cute name! She sounds like she has her hair in pigtails, and she bounces around like a ray of sunshine," Lily says excitedly as my eyes flit to the clock. The clock seems to be seething, _Well played, Megurine, well played. It is 3:24am. You win, for now…_

"Well, that is what she used to do," I reply, feeling worry bubble in my chest, "But what if she's changed?"

For the next three hours, I discuss my worries and feelings with Lily, who teases me mercilessly about my non-existent sex life as well, until the Sun finally rises and I leap out of bed. Too nervous to feel sleepy despite the fact I had no sleep that night, I race into the bathroom to get ready. I shower in cold water to help snap me into reality, though the floral aroma of my soap lures me into another dreamland. I almost spend twenty minutes in there before I snap out of it, rinse off the soap suds and dart out the door, dripping wet, to my closet. While towelling off, I look through my closet and settle on a simple white button-up top and a short black skirt with gold trimmings, pull on my black thigh-highs, and pair it all with my favorite gold knee-high boots.

"Why are you up so early, Luka?" Mom looks down at me from the top of the stairs, her slightly white streaked pink hair messy around her head. I look up at her from my position barely out the door, toast in my mouth, and mumble something that hopefully sounds like "I've got a promise to honor."

Before she can reply, I dart out the door and race to the bus terminal. I board the bus that is headed toward my old hometown, giving myself a mental prep talk about all the things that can go wrong, and how I should react. About my new house there I am supposed to properly move in to, I can always call Mom and Dad to deliver my bags to my new home later, along with the car they promised me. It is probably my big brother Luki's old BMW convertible, but I love that car so it does not matter. If Miku is not there, I guess I will hang around for a while and think of what to do with my life, and if she is I will plan based on who she has become or still is. Firstly, I have to find out if the Hatsune family still lives in the same house, just across the street from my old one and a few houses down from my new one. I keep thinking and planning courses of actions on this painfully long journey.

Finally, the bus trundles up the mountain to my stop. I rush off as if I am being chased by a bunch of angry tigers, pelting down the achingly familiar paths to the Hatsune residence. The beauty of living in a little village in the mountains is that things do not really change much, though electricity occasionally fails and telecommunications barely exists here. My eyes scan the new nameplates outside the front gates as I speed by, _Kamui, Kagamine, Megpoid, Shion_. I recognize none of them; it makes my heart sink as I round the familiar corner, nearly out of breath. Will they still be living here, considering that the _Ono, Akita,Yokune _and _Sasazaki _ families no longer did? Halting before the house Miku lived in; I close my eyes and take a deep breath for mental preparation. I look up at the wooden nameplate, where two letters are engraved in black.

"_Hatsune_"

Miku still lives here. Miku still lives here! My heart hammers uncontrollably in my chest as I race up the pathway and knock on the door. An unfamiliar face greets me, a lady in a maid outfit, and I inquire in as composed a voice as I can manage, "Is Hatsune Miku in?"


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: This will be a little sad for now, please bear with me! The "comfort" part will come! Now, on to what Miku has become! Thanks for the support so far, everyone!

I will try my best to update as quickly as possible, but with the GCE O'levels on the way, I am more obliged to my books than my computer… T^T

Rest assured, I will not give up halfway. Luka x Miku is my OTP!

Luka's POV

_Previous chapter:_

"_Hatsune"_

_Miku still lives here. Miku still lives here! My heart hammers uncontrollably in my chest as I race up the pathway and knock on the door. An unfamiliar face greets me, a lady in a maid outfit, and I inquire in as composed a voice as I can manage, "Is Hatsune Miku in?"_

"Hatsune Miku?" the maid's face scrunches up with confusion before she says, "Oh! Hatsune-san doesn't live here anymore; she lives down the street, in the Institute of Mental Health."

The door shuts on me, and what I have just heard hits me like a ten tonne steel lorry at a hundred miles per hour. **The Institute of Mental Health?! **What has happened to Miku while I was gone? Miku is definitely not the Miku that I knew, considering that she has been admitted into the Institute of Mental Health, meaning something terrible must have happened to her… What has she endured? My heart thumps frantically in my chest as I speed down the street to the small white IMH building, frightening thoughts of much darker possibilities I had not imagined last night swirling in my head. Miku is mentally unsound; she can be anything from crazy to suicidal or even both. The familiar cold wind biting at my cheeks serves only to heighten my anxiety, reminding me of the smell of Miku and making me want to know what has happened to her RIGHT NOW. I pick up the pace, not looking where I am going, and I find myself bumping into a tall purple haired boy just a few steps short of the mental hospital. His hair is long and up in a ponytail, a hairstyle that no city boy will be caught dead with; he also has matured and elegant, nearly perfect, features probably caused by inbreeding to keep his bloodline pure, a practice only continued in rural areas of the country. I am not the type to be interested in boys, Miku quickly popping into my head again, and I apologize to him quickly, trying to get on my way again. Just as I shoulder my way past him, the boy comments in a surprisingly deep voice, "I haven't seen you around before, are you new?"

I nod, and ask hopefully, "Do you know a Hatsune Miku?" Maybe he will know why Miku is in the mental hospital… He might be a friend of Miku's, too. Whoever he is, he will definitely know what is going on with Miku, or what has happened to her, better than I do.

"Hatsune?" the boy's face fills with scorn, making me dislike him instantly. "What has a pretty girl like you got to do with a crazy retard like her?"

Anger boils within me, but I suppress the urge to punch this idiot in the face. _Violence is not the answer, Luka, however tempting it may be,_ I remind myself. Luki taught me that, he used to be bullied and he knows how traumatizing violence can be. I will not resort to kneeing or kicking this idiot in places boys should not be kicked, no matter how much I want to. I choose to continue heading for the hospital at breakneck speed as calmly as I can. The purple haired boy calls his name after me, Kamui Gakupo, probably hoping for a chance with me. He must be dreaming if he thinks I will even take a liking to him, considering the fact that he insulted the girl I love. He is a boy I will not even pretend to like.

I jump up the three steps to the hospital lobby, racing in and nearly crashing into the receptionist's table. It is difficult to suddenly put on the brakes, after all, and I manage to stop completely by placing my arms on the reception desk mid-run and lifting my feet off the ground. Any ordinary person would mistake my action as a threatening one or give me a strange look, but the nurse on duty simply looks up at me calmly. I guess working at a mental hospital makes you pretty resistant to strange behavior. Panting, I inquire, "What room is Hatsune Miku in?"

The nurse seems surprised by my words, "Hatsune-san has never had any visitors…" Never…? That makes me pale, why does Miku have no visitors at all…? Has she no friends, and what about her family just up the street? I ignore it and repeat my question more urgently. I need to see Miku now, I need to know what has happened to her, what she has become. I can wait for many things, but not when it comes to Miku.

"Hatsune-san is in Ward D, Room 439." The moment the words leave the nurse's mouth I am running toward the "WARD D" sign as if my life depends on it. As I run, I wonder why Miku is in Ward D of all places. If the ward system has not changed the past six years, Ward D is where the patients with the worst problems stay. Is she mindlessly violent, suicidal, depressed or extremely bipolar, or does she have dissociative personality disorder or some other incurable mental illness I do not know of?

I nearly crash into a nurse on my sprint down the hallway, but the nurse reacts by sidestepping without flinching. It must be hard to work in a high-risk ward with people who talk to themselves, are scared of shadows or go on violent rampages without any warning. I guess that they will be able to watch horror movies without too much of a reaction…

The sickly sweet scent of sedatives drift over from a metal cart outside Room 415 when I sprint by, which kind of creeps me out. Is it legal to use sedatives on your patients, however crazy they may be? Worst of all, does Miku need to be sedated for the safety of the staff? Is her condition that bad? If it is, what could I possibly do to help her? I did abandon her for six whole years after all…

Finally, I arrive at Room 439, which is the second last room of the corridor. I get ready to knock on the door, steeling myself for whatever Miku could have possibly become while I was away. The moment my fist touched the wood, the door flies open, and I have to back away to avoid being hit in the face. A nurse scurries out of it with a plate of uneaten food in her hands, a worried look on her face and urgency in her every footstep. She stops when she sees me and asks, "What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to see Hatsune Miku," I try to dodge around her, but she blocks the door physically. She says softly, "No one has ever visited Hatsune-san, and she's been here for a year. Who are you?"

"Megurine Luka, her childhood friend," I reply. In my head, I want to shout, _A year?! She's been here a f***ing year and no one visited?! Where the Hell is her family, her friends?!_

The nurse sighs and places the food at the base of the door, "I assume you haven't come to the village in quite a while, Megurine-san. Brace yourself. Don't expect her to say anything; Hatsune-san hasn't said a word throughout her entire stay here."

With that, she opens the door and steps in, leaving worry to churn in the pit of my stomach. I highly doubt I am prepared enough to see what Miku has become, hearing about it already scares me, but I do not have the time to be a weakling now._ Pull it together, Luka! _I scream at myself, _Miku might actually need you! _I follow after the nurse quickly; and my heart stops as the door closes behind us with a small sound. I cannot believe my eyes. Miku, my Miku, lies in a tight ball on the bed, her beautiful turquoise hair curled around her small body. Miku, the person I have longed to see for six whole years… just lying there… broken… The nurse's voice changes to a gentle and soothing tone when she calls to Miku, telling her someone is here to see her. Miku whimpers in response, her body is trembling violently and has been from the moment I set eyes on her. I guess my shock showed on my face, because the nurse is acting sympathetically. She shoots me a sad look and whispers to me, "She's this way the moment anyone enters her room. She can't stand people at all."

I walk closer to Miku, longing to touch her again, but the moment I am within arm's length of the bed, she starts to cry. It isn't just crying; it is shoulder-heaving sobs accompanied by screams of terror, her head clutched in her hands and her body curled in a tight, violently shaking ball. I have never heard Miku cry like that before, a knot of unease and guilt settles in my stomach. Whatever had happened to Miku, she needed me. I could have helped somehow, I am sure of it! I could have helped her, if only I weren't in the city expanding my social life then…!

The nurse says in a shaky voice, "Megurine-san, please leave, she can't take it…" She tries to herd me out of the room, but I stand my ground, worry and pain welling up in my heart. What has happened to Miku these last six years? Before I can go into a full-blown Miku-induced panic, I scold myself, _Pull it together, Luka! What's most important right now is Miku, and you can't help her if you're panicking!_

"Miku!" she whimpers at the sound of her name, tucking herself into an even tighter ball, breaking my heart. "Miku! It's me, Luka!"

She perks up when she hears my name, but does not uncurl. In a painfully broken voice she echoes, "Lu… ka…?"

The nurse's jaw drops and she lets me go, and I shut the door behind me. Taking small and cautious steps, I speak slowly, "Yes, it's me, Luka. I'm back, just like I promised. Do you remember?" She uncurls herself and looks up at me with huge, teary turquoise eyes that widen in disbelief when she recognizes me.

"Luka," she echoes in a soft voice that steadily grows louder, "Luka. Luka. Luka. Luka. Luka. Luka."

As she repeats my name, she is slowly getting up from the bed, her eyes fixated on me. The nurse watches with disbelief and relief clear in her eyes as Miku slowly walks toward me, echoing my name with every step. She hasn't said a word in a whole year… and now here she is, repeating a single word, my name. Should I be happy about that?

"Luka…"she stands inches before me, shaking slightly. She has lost a lot of weight, her cheeks are no longer chubby and her arms and legs are almost frighteningly bony. Her thick twintails of turquoise hair, tied high as always, seem almost thicker than her limbs. The white dress she is in hangs loosely off her body, too big for what she has become.

"Luka!" she throws her arms around me and buries her head in my shoulder, sobbing uncontrollably. Even though this is almost exactly what I hoped for, I cannot smile. Miku has been broken, who made her this way? Though she is not the strongest girl I have ever met, Miku isn't the type to break easily. Whatever broke her must be horrifying, or else she wouldn't be here, in such a bad state.

I wrap my arms around her and kiss her forehead gently as she sobs my name into my shoulder, trying to stay strong even though my heart has shattered into a thousand pieces.

_I'm so sorry, Miku, I wasn't there for you when you needed me most…_

It does not matter anymore. I will be here for Miku from now on, and hopefully, she will get better. I guide her to the bed and lift her onto it; she weighs so little that it scares me. I've lifted weights heavier than Miku is now. I shift to stand next to the bed, but she whimpers and begs, "Don't go…" A sharp pang of pain twists through my heart and I shift instead to lie down next to her, wrapping my arms around her small body. She buries her face in my shoulder, closing her beautiful turquoise eyes and making a small sound of content. Her breathing steadies and within moments, she is asleep in my arms. The peaceful look on her face helps to calm me down, and I bury my face in her hair. The sweet scent of Miku is still the same; I love it so much…

"Megurine-san," another female voice calls me, and I look up to see a lady in a white coat; a doctor, most probably Miku's doctor or something, with a disbelieving and relieved expression on her face, "Hatsune-san has never behaved this way to a person since she came into our care… Are you willing to help us?"

"Of course," I reply as I stroke Miku's hair gently, "what happened to her?"

"We have no idea, she refuses to tell anyone. All we know is she has an extreme phobia of touch and people, and there is a certain trigger word one must never say around her. That is D-I-S-A-P-P-E-A-R," the doctor explains calmly, "Her condition has not improved over her stay and she is refusing food more often, which is extremely worrying. If she does not stabilize, we will have to sedate her and put her on a drip."

This sounds nothing like the Miku I knew six years ago, the Miku who loved hugs and was always laughing, the sweetheart who loved leeks and sweets. Something tells me that that Miku is gone now, and will probably never fully come back. I ask the doctor, my voice cracking slightly, if I can stay here with Miku.

"It seems like it will help with Hatsune-san's recovery if you do, so feel free to stay." The surprise must have shown on my face, because the doctor says, "We don't do this just for money, Megurine-san. Megumi-san and I both want to see Hatsune-san healthy and happy again as much as you do."

Megumi-san must be the nurse… I thank them both rather sheepishly and untangle myself from Miku, making a promise to return after I have settled the things in my new home. I will help Miku as much as I can, until she is as close to the old Miku as possible. These scars will never fade away; I learned that much from Luki, but that doesn't mean the original person is gone forever. If you work hard enough, you will at least be able to bring half of that person back.

I wonder what to tell Mom and Dad, they both know I have been excited to see Miku, though they don't know just yet about my sexuality and our confessions. They will probably try to comfort me and let me eat just tuna for lunch, and I have no complaints. I hope they won't be overly sympathetic; it will probably make my strong front crumble and make me sob like a heartbroken child.

I give the sleeping Miku a farewell smile before heading to my new home, a few houses down from the IMH. The nameplate has already been changed to "Megurine", and I see Luki's old BMW in my driveway. I walk up the gravel path and Luki throws open the door cheerfully. "Luka, I've been so nice to you to bring all your stuff over!"

Mom's head pops up from behind and she beckons me in, chuckling at Luki's behavior. I see that they have helped arrange everything for me, just the way I like it. The look on my face must be betraying the terrible day I have had so far, because Dad's first comment is, "Oh goddess, Luka, you look horrible. What happened?" That's Dad for you, straightforward and never one to beat around the bush, much like me.

I pour it all out, the Hatsunes still live in the village but Miku is in the mental hospital and terrified of physical contact and people, no one visits Miku and she hasn't said a word in a year, she is as skinny as a stick and I have no idea what she has gone through in the past six years. When I sum it up like that, it sounds much worse than I initially thought, and my entire family's face changes from relief to shock to sorrow throughout the course of my extremely long speech.

"Aww man, that sucks majorly," Luki comments, throwing an arm around my shoulder comfortingly, "Should we stay with you tonight?"

"I'll be staying at the IMH, with Miku," I tell them, "I'm going to pack my bag for a night or two." Before I can go, Mom stops me and makes me eat some tuna for dinner before I head upstairs, and they assure me that they will stay here for a few days until I settle down properly and will be there for me if I ever need them. It makes me smile, my family is so supportive, but it makes me sad that Miku's family just disappeared on her when she needed them most. Will my family disappear on me when they find out that I am in love with a girl?

I shove the thought away; finish my tuna and race up the stairs to stuff some clothes and sweets into a backpack. I troop down to the stairs to rummage through the refrigerator for some leeks, which will hopefully help me cheer Miku up. Dad complains when he sees me carrying the bag of leeks out, obviously displeased, because he loves leeks almost as much as Miku does. Luki has to promise to buy him another bag so he will stop sulking, which is admittedly amusing. A 56 year old man with salt-and-pepper pink hair sitting on the couch watching a kid's comedy and sulking over leeks doesn't really suit the image of CEO of Megurine Corporations.

"Bye, everyone!" I call out after I lace up my boots, and I sprint down the familiar paths to mental hospital. I should be happy I take track and field and have a sizeable stamina; I have been running all morning and afternoon. I spare the wall clock in the lobby a glance on my way to Ward D; it is 4:38pm. My home clock will be throwing a fit because time passed by too quickly for me.

When I enter Miku's room again, she is whimpering softly in the corner, staying away from the bed. At the foot of the bed a confused and worried young nurse stands; a plate of food in her hands. She seems to be a new nurse, she does not seem to know Miku's condition and that her trying to edge closer to Miku is only worsening the situation.

"Miku!" the moment she hears my voice, her head perks up and she throws herself at me. I patiently explain to the nurse that Miku is terrified of people and I brought food for her, so the nurse can take the tray out. She nods nervously and retreats from the room in fear, leaving me alone with Miku after a lengthy and tiring explanation. I carry her to the bed and hum a song from our childhood to her until she calms down enough to stop trembling and crying.

"Luka," she murmurs softly, looking at me with disbelief in her beautiful eyes, "Luka…"

"I brought you some leeks," I tell her, putting the bag on the bed, but her eyes do not light up the way they used to. Hatsune Miku indifferent to leeks… something is terribly wrong. Back when we were kids, leeks could get Miku out of even the worst emotional slumps; she could break a leg and still smile at the sight of leeks.

"Not hungry," Miku mumbles, her eyes flitting away from me. I shift the bag to the floor and take the space it vacated, placing a hand on her head. She flinches slightly but makes no sound, slumping down on the bed and curling into a tight little ball. I slide next to her and wrap my arms around her, feeling her press her back to my chest and curl her arms over mine.

"Don't go, Luka," she whimpers softly, desperately, and I whisper into her ear, "I won't ever leave you again, Miku. I promise."

Her shoulders tremble slightly, and soft sobs pierce the silent air. Her tears are cold against my skin, her breath hot against my fingers. As Miku cries, I make a silent and solemn promise to the world, to myself, and most importantly, to Miku.

_I will help Miku every step of the way until she recovers as fully as possible from whatever has traumatized her. I swear this on my life._


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Thanks for the reviews, favorites and follows, everyone! I am glad you liked the chapter! I personally felt bad being so mean to Miku; she is my favorite Vocaloid after all (followed closely by Luka in second place). I hope you guys will enjoy this chapter. Please read and review!

3 Titania

_Previous chapter:_

_Luka's POV_

_Her shoulders tremble slightly, and soft sobs pierce the silent air. Her tears are cold against my skin, her breath hot against my fingers. As Miku cries, I make a silent and solemn promise to the world, to myself, and most importantly, to Miku._

_I will help Miku every step of the way until she recovers as fully as possible from whatever has traumatized her. I swear this on my life._

Miku's POV

Cold voices swirl around me, painfully familiar, snarling words I don't want to hear. I yelp; I want them to go away. I am crouched in a dark room, surrounded by shadows. Their eyes are like daggers, piercing through me as they scream words of abuse; I don't want to see them… I'm scared of them… I want them to go away and leave me alone! I would rather huddle in the dark all by myself, with no friends, no hands to hold and no listening ears, than to have those creatures lurking in the shadows around me with fangs bared, eager to tear me down!

A shadow is crouched with its back to me, laughing maniacally while clapping its hands; and it suddenly turns to face me. Upon seeing me, it starts to weep, long fingers reaching for me. It wails my name in an eerie, high-pitched voice that sounds like a hundred people talking in sync, frighteningly familiar purple eyes boring into me. What… what is going on with it…? Afraid, I back away from it, only to bump into the shadows behind me that dig sharp claws into my shoulders. With a yelp, I back away from them, approaching the weeping purple-eyed shadow instead. Their eyes are twin pools of hatred and contempt; they long to toy with their exhausted and frightened prey who cannot escape them. Around me they circle, I can feel their hot breath on the back of my neck, their fangs sinking slowly into my body. I scream, trying to tear myself free from the intense agony, but my movements only cause them to tear deeper into my flesh. Pain seizes my mind, and I scream again. Why can't they go away?! Why can't they leave me alone?!

"AAAAHHHH!"

I jolt awake, panting heavily, to feel two warm arms wrapped around me. I panic, but quickly calm myself when I recognize the floral scent of Luka. Luka… I did not dream it after all; she really is here, holding me. Sobbing, I bury myself in her shoulder, feeling her gentle hands stroke my back. The long shadows in the room scare me, and I whimper softly as I try to escape them. Gleaming purple and blue eyes bore into me from the shadows, waiting to get their claws in me.

"It's okay, Miku, it was just a nightmare. It's okay, you're safe now," she whispers in my ear comfortingly. It helps take the fear away, but I can still see them behind closed eyelids, those shadows that snarl abuse at me… It is not "just a nightmare", they really are here, around me.

"AAAAAAHH!"

"Miku…? Miku, it's okay, Miku. Miku!" Luka shakes my shoulders, but I can barely see her anymore. She becomes consumed by the shadow, threatening and violent, and pure terror jolts through me. More shadows in the terribly familiar silhouettes of my tormentors appear alongside this one, eyes burning holes into me hungrily.

'_Hatsune…' 'Come on, Hatsune, be useful for once in your life and listen to us!' 'That isn't possible, Hatsune's existence is meaningless!' 'We'll kill you, Hatsune.' 'We'll rip you apart, piece by bloody piece…'_

"Go away! Go away!" I yelp, tumbling off the bed and stumbling unsteadily to the wall, pressing myself to it. I wish I can disappear into it; I want to get away from those shadows. My heart is pounding so hard I can feel the pulse throbbing in my neck, bile has risen in the back of my throat, and I am sobbing uncontrollably. The shadows press onward, uncaring. Go away, go away!

"Miku, Miku," the purple-eyed shadow calls icily, long claws reaching for my fragile body. I tremble furiously; I want that shadow to go away, and take all its allies with it! Haven't they hurt me enough?! They have torn me both apart and down, like a naked child I stand helpless before them, unable to protect myself from their daggers and arrows. Go away, go away!

No one helped. When these shadows dominated my life and tore me apart, no one helped, no one cared. Why?! Could they not hear my screams? Can they not hear my screams now? Stop! Go away! Leave me alone! I collapse into a sobbing mess at the foot of the wall, unable to do anything else.

Go away, go away! Haven't they all taken everything from me? I have nothing left to give! My pride, my future, my sanity, I have given it all to them! They have torn down the very foundation of my existence! Thanks to these shadows, encouraged by other's nonchalance, I have absolutely nothing anymore! In my hands I hold only the shattered remains of Hatsune Miku! Living has become a task too difficult for me, it hurts, I live in a monochrome world without hope. Each breath I take is painful; I have no will to continue this any longer. I am simply prolonging my suffering for the entertainment of those cruel shadows!

This life is meaningless! I have broken so much I am worth nothing at all; I can contribute nothing to this world I have been forcefully brought into! No one is capable of loving me; everyone will just abandon me or spit in my face, just like those shadows…! They are everywhere, ready to tear down everything I have painstakingly built up over the years. It hurts, I can only lie down and take their words like a pathetic dog. I let them trample on my head, saying words that pierce my heart like knives, sinking curved claws into me and ripping me to pieces. I'm scared of everything that life throws my way; I am too tired to face any more. I have raised the white flag like the coward I am and retreated so far back that the only ground I have left is the simple fact that I am still alive.

Everything is my fault; I bring this fate upon myself. No one can love Hatsune Miku, no one will ever care about me. My cries are ignorable, I am of no importance, and when I get hurt it simply doesn't matter. These shadows have broken what makes me who I am, and wounded as I am I have no fight left within me. These luminous-eyed shadows that haunt my every waking and sleeping moment, they refuse to leave their final stronghold, the depths of my broken, shattered mind. The shadows keep approaching me, relentless and unheeding, though I am already cornered with my back against the wall and sobbing in fear. They know no mercy, their enemy is thoroughly beaten, yet they still attack again and again…

"I have nothing left to surrender, you have utterly crushed me!" I scream to the shadows, but the sounds that come from my mouth are unintelligible sobs and yelps. The largest shadow keeps approaching steadily, claws still reaching out for me.

My entire body flinches when the shadow's hands touch my shoulders, and my body trembles as it prepares itself for the pain that will surely come.

Suddenly, in this terrible world of fear and darkness, a warm childhood memory strikes me. Bathed in a nostalgic buttery light, I see my six year old self crying in a corner of a field all by herself after a bad day at kindergarten. Soft footsteps through the grass alert the little girl to someone's presence, the ten year old Luka. Even at that young age, Luka's imminent beauty showed, her movements were graceful and athletic. Luka walks over to the younger me and touches her shoulders gently, making the crying girl look up. In her velvety voice Luka assures,_ "No matter what they say and do to you, Miku-chan, I will always think you are an amazing girl, I will always be your friend, and I will always protect you. Now cheer up, or else I'm really going to beat them all into a pulp." _ The young me looks at Luka and giggles through her tears, and Luka wraps her arms tightly around her.

Just then, the shadow that had reached me wraps long arms around me. Before I can panic, I realize that this embrace feels exactly like the one I just remembered, and the threatening shadows fade away with a disappointed hiss. My senses clear up, and I am hit straightaway by the scent of Luka, then by the warmth of her body. She is crouched on the floor beside me, holding me tightly, tears spilling over on my shoulder.

"I know you've already slid over the edge, Miku, but I'm willing to try and pull you up again," she whispers softly to me, "If you don't mind, I will be by you forever."

Tears fill my eyes, but they are not of fear. For the first time in six years, I shed tears of joy and gratitude, burying my face in Luka's shoulder. I should have known that she wouldn't give up on me, even if the whole world did. Luka still believes in me, the real me, she actually likes the real me… For so long I have been waiting for someone to like the real me, to stop the real me from breaking completely as my weaknesses started to show through my lies. Hell-bound and lonely, I couldn't find a way to tell anyone how I felt, because I kept laughing and smiling and lying, so much that when I wanted to say something important, I would feel like crying and not get anything out.

Because of that, I could not ask for help as the shadows steamrolled my entire life. My lies made everything seem okay, until it was too late to help me. Or is it too late…? Luka still cares… maybe there is something that can be done… maybe I have some _hope_ now. Recovery seems possible if she is with me…

Crying in Luka's arms, I realize that I have never felt this safe, this whole and this happy in a long time. The girl I love is back, these feelings far outmatch the minor joys that shone in my life before this day. Friends that I have made since Luka left, few and far between and never lasting, they never made me feel this way. Sure, I felt better with them there, but in the end their presences only served to make me miss Luka even more. Now, she's back, and she promises she won't leave me. I know Luka doesn't break her promises; she did, after all, keep one made six years ago when others might overlook it and say "we were just kids then, fooling around." I know I can trust Luka to be there for me from now on.

Even if she no longer loves me, her presence itself is all the comfort I need. Still, I highly doubt that I will ever dare to step out of my little room in this mental institution and face the frightening shadows that wait in the outside world. Humanity has not been kind enough to me for me to give it another chance, only Luka merits one from my shattered heart.

"Miku, can you tell me what happened to you while I was gone?" she murmurs into my hair, one arm gently around my waist to anchor me to reality.

"I…" my voice falters, "I… I don't want to talk about it."

She smiles understandingly; pulling me even closer to her so barely any space separates our bodies. She is warm, her scent wraps around me like a security blanket, and I just melt against her like we did when we were kids. Though I have more… edges… now and Luka has grown curves, we still fit together almost perfectly, as if we were made for one another. Even though I have woken up barely an hour ago, I fall back into a peaceful sleep, safe in Luka's arms.

This time, the shadows give way, and I slide into a peaceful dream of a time now past. A time where this fear that lurks within me never existed, a time before the shadows came and destroyed me. A beautiful, sweet time known as childhood.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: I'm sorry it took a while for me to update, I am preparing for my examinations tomorrow (okay, that's an obvious lie, I wouldn't have got this up if I were). As the year goes on, it may take longer for me to update, but rest assured, I will get it done (somehow). Reviews, follows and favorities help motivate me, so please leave some if you like this story or see any areas of improvement!

Titania

_Previous Chapter:_

_Miku's POV_

_This time, the shadows give way, and I slide into a peaceful dream of a time now past. A time where this fear that lurks within me never existed, a time before the shadows came and destroyed me. A beautiful, sweet time known as childhood._

Luka's POV

Miku sleeps peacefully this time with a warm smile barely tugging at the edge of her lips. If the sharp edges of her face fill out again, she will look exactly like the old Miku, the youthful, sweet and shy little girl whom I selfishly kept to myself. I should try my best to get her to eat, she probably can gain 10 kilograms and still be in the healthy weight range.

However, even leeks cannot entice her to eat, so the possibility of anything else succeeding in its place is virtually nil. Maybe I can try offering her other kinds of vegetables, or maybe a soft apple… Snacks and fried food don't work as she has a very strange taste that actually makes her even more endearing. Few teenagers nowadays love vegetables and fruits with the intensity that Miku does, she would rather an apple to sweets and broccoli to chocolate, with ice cream being the only non-vegan food she enjoys.

"Lu…ka…?" Miku has awoken and looks at me with sleepy, unfocused eyes.

"Hmm?" I cannot get over how fragile and broken she looks; I regret that I was not by her side before all this happened. "Tell me," she says softly, "About your life."

Surprised, I dig through my memory to find a nice story to tell her. This could be my chance to show her the world isn't all that bad, that there are more good people than bad people around us. I guess I'll tell her about my best friend, Lily, since the blonde is such a crazy person and appalling role model that stories about her never run dry.

"Hmm, let me tell you about my friend, Lily-chan, then," I watch her shift to a more comfortable position like a child awaiting a bedtime story, "Lily-chan is… in a word… blonde." Miku stiffens noticeably at the word, and I continue, "She is probably the world's most appalling role model, and she's a year older than me. I met her in middle school, and we somehow went to the same high school as well. She's my best friend, aside from you, though unlike you she is exactly the kind of girl your parents used to tell you to watch out for."

The small smile on her face, albeit a little shaky, tells me she remembers. I continue describing my wild, annoying yet awesome friend the best way I can, but words cannot really capture the blonde's crazy personality. Just like words cannot describe how beautiful, sweet and adorable Miku is. Before I get carried away thinking about Miku and accidentally blurt out feelings she might no longer have, I launch into the first story about Lily I can remember.

_In another one of Lily's parties I am seated, regretting my poor judgement. No matter how much Lily swears that her party will be innocent and sober, alcohol always appears and halfway through most of the party will turn into a drunken orgy. Lily and I are the only sober ones in a room full of girls and guys making out, I am trying to tune out the moans and groans while Lily is surveying her "work" with a satisfied grin._

"_Remind me never to believe you again," I groan into my cup of tea, and Lily just smirks._

"_Go join them, Luka-chan, it's fun," she jerks her chin toward two girls who are enthusiastically making out on the couch. The taller girl has her hand in the other's jeans and is moving her hand back and forth; I blush and quickly look away. "LILY-CHAN!"_

_She chuckles and sips her alcohol, "Do you want to be a virgin forever, Lu-chan? Come on, let loose a little." "What a thing for a role model to say," I grumble, turning my back to the couples and focusing on a seemingly interesting spot on the wall. Lily tilts her head to one side and grins proudly, "I am an appalling role model."_

"_I don't see anything to be proud of," I respond, giving her one of my 'famous' deadly glares. She gulps and holds up both hands in surrender, making me raise an eyebrow._

"_Luka-chan, sometimes I suspect that you're asexual," she comments before throwing her head back and downing the entire glass of tequila. I sigh, for a seventeen year old she is already drinking far too much. "You're already sixteen, and you've never dated nor had s—"_

"_DON'T SAY IT!" I clap my hands over her mouth, and she chuckles faintly in amusement. When I let her go, she says, "Still so innocent, eh, Lu-chan?"_

"_No thanks to you," I grumble, quickly fleeing the living room and the smell of alcohol and various bodily fluids. Lily chuckles and follows me out, heading to the kitchen to grab herself another glass of liver-destroying liquid._

_Outside of the living room, music pounds through the entire house so much that it vibrates through my body. I am glad it is not my house; I do not want to be clearing the unidentified liquids off the walls after this. I glance at the wall clock, miraculously intact, to see that it is around ten minutes past midnight. Lily's parents will throw a fit when they get back from their night shift in six hours… Still, I begrudgingly admit that I find Lily's way of life… fun and interesting. To watch, of course, I will never live it myself, I have far too much respect for my own body to destroy it the way these crazy kids are._

"Are all people in the city like that?" Miku has wrinkled her nose slightly and looks at me quizzically, head tilted. She is still buried in her blankets, wary of something, but she seems much calmer now.

"Not really. I would say a majority of them are, but there are other minorities that are studious, athletic, anti-social, computer-game obsessed, otakus…" I trail off, not wanting to mention the jerks and bimbos that rule the popularity food chain and push around the little guys. I have to tell her about the crazy, perpetually happy, fun-loving, eccentric yet kind side of humanity to make her trust them again, not ruin her already shattered belief in humankind with the dog-eat-dog world of popularity.

"City people are…" she trails off, searching for the word. Having spoken not a word in a year, it impresses me that Miku is able to speak so fluently. "Weird."

I laugh; it is an appropriate word indeed. For the mainly traditional villagers here, who still worship at Shinto shrines that have three-digit ages, only drink_ sake_ on special occasions, pray to the Sun Goddess Amaterasu and believe in _Youkai_ (we have an old lady here who supposedly controls an _Inugami_), the wasteful, indulgent and fashionably forward ways of the city folk is extremely strange. No villager would understand why one would want to drink himself or herself silly with Western alcohol, indulge in debauchery and worship Western or Chinese gods, while all the city folk will call the villagers old-fashioned and lame. To be honest, since I have personally experienced both sides, I seriously prefer the villager's way of life; it isn't as crazy and organ-destructive.

"This is why those who live in the rural areas live much longer lives," I say with a smile, "We don't destroy our body as quickly and early."

Miku chuckles dryly, and I realize that there are scars on her wrists I did not notice before. Her skin is so milky pale that the white of the scars nearly blend in completely; if not for the jagged skin I would never have seen them. Miku cut herself… The chuckle was probably because she senses the irony, she is living the lifestyle where she supposedly should not be destroying her body, and here she is destroying it in a different way. I gently lean over to take her hand and trace the scars, seeing her pale and look away, chewing on her lower lip.

"Miku," I begin, but she cuts me off, "I know my actions were stupid, Luka, but judge me not, for even the strongest warrior falls to emotion."

"Sweetheart, I seek not to judge you," I say, tracing the scars with my thumb, "It just wounds me that you were hurt to this extent."

"It was not your fault," she whispers softly, and I lean down to kiss every single jagged white line on her creamy skin. I hear her shocked intake of breath, but she does not pull her arms away. I breathe in the scent of my Miku, wondering how anyone could bear to hurt such a sweet girl. In the city, everyone would fawn over her, boys would trip over their feet trying to woo her and girls would be cuddling and teasing her at every opportunity to watch her cheeks flush, not hurt her until she becomes mentally unsound.

When I have kissed every scar, I rise to wrap my arms around her and bury my face in her hair, stroking her head with one hand and her back with the other. "Miku, you're beautiful," I murmur, I feel her hands grip the front of my shirt tightly. "One day, you'll be well enough to go out in the world again. I promise you."

She looks up at me with teary eyes and whispers that she is afraid, that she doesn't want to go out where all the monsters are, where all the shadows are. It confuses me, monsters and shadows…? I want to understand, I tell her, I want to know what has happened to her so I can help her drive away the monsters and shadows. I will make sure that they do not ever disturb her again so she can start _living_.

In a painfully broken voice she says no one can drive them away, they are indestructible and fearless and will always lurk around her. There is not enough of her left to _live_ anymore, only enough to_ survive_. I shift slightly to hold her against me more tightly, and I feel something fall from my pocket. Taking no notice of such an unimportant thing, I cradle Miku and murmur softly that it wouldn't hurt to try.

"It will, Luka," she replies, "They'll hurt me; they'll try to hurt you… They want me dead, they're not satisfied that I am broken. They're ruthless, they can't be stopped…"

"They can't hurt me, Miku, and I'll be damned if I let them hurt you any more than they already have," I run my fingers through her twintails of turquoise hair, marvelling in the sweet scent that rises and curls around me from the uniquely colored strands. Her grip on my shirt tightens, her shoulders trembling, and I kiss her forehead gently. A blush colors her pale cheeks and she looks up to meet my eyes before drawing her gaze to the floor.

Her pupils dilate suddenly and her entire body stiffens, trembling violently. Her eyes are filled with fear and helplessness; tears are starting to flow down her snow-white cheeks. I follow her gaze to see a picture of Lily and me that was in my wallet, so that was what fell out, and I lean over to pick it up, "Miku, that's just Lily-chan." Is she so afraid of people that she cannot even look at photographs of them, or is it something to do with Lily's appearance? She did, after all, stiffen at the word **blonde **when I described Lily, did a blonde have something to do with what happened to her? I quickly stow away the photograph, but it is too late, Miku has already seen it. Her trembling grows more violent and she is as stiff as a board in my arms. Softly, she whimpers, "No… no…" She pulls away from me and draws her knees to her chest, rocking back and forth slightly. It stabs me in the heart, I have seen this behavior in Luki before he received professional mental healthcare, it only signifies bad things.

"Ka…" she murmurs senselessly, "Kaga… Kagamine… AAAAAAHHHHHH!"

She curls up in a ball yet again, trembling violently, and the nurse I saw on my first day scurries in. Miku is trembling in pure terror, sobbing with her head in her hands, and the nurse advises me, "Megurine-san, you should leave." As I try to protest, saying that I should be able to help, she explains gravely, "Hatsune-san is most probably having a flashback now, which means she isn't here mentally so your presence will not be of any help. Seeing her like this might hurt you, and since you won't make a difference, leaving will be the much better option, especially for your heart."

I take a final look at my trembling Miku and, seeing the wisdom in the nurse's words, leave the room with her. She gives me an apologetic smile as Miku's sobs spill out the door and echo in the hallway, ushering me out as kindly as possible. I hate that I can do nothing to help Miku, I hate being so useless… I step out into the chilly mountain air that reminds me of her and murmur a prayer to Amaterasu to help Miku get out of her flashback quickly.

With nowhere to go, I decide to head home and get some lunch. It is already late afternoon; I have spent more time with Miku than I thought. As I walk home, I notice the nameplate of one of the houses I pass by. "_Kagamine_". That was the name Miku murmured before sinking into her flashback. Do the Kagamines, whoever they are, have something to do with what happened to my sweet Miku…?


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Sorry for the wait! I had a pretty bad case of writer's block and was on the verge of smashing my head against the wall. Fortunately, my muse returned before I could cause myself permanent brain damage. I hope this chapter is satisfactory! Please read and review!

Titania

_Previous chapter:_

_With nowhere to go, I decide to head home and get some lunch. It is already late afternoon; I have spent more time with Miku than I thought. As I walk home, I notice the nameplate of one of the houses I pass by. "Kagamine". That was the name Miku murmured before sinking into her flashback. Do the Kagamines, whoever they are, have something to do with what happened to my sweet Miku…?_

Luka's POV

It was a long and painful night curled up in bed alone, worrying about my Miku and what the Kagamines, whoever they are, could have done to her. Mom and dad tried their best, making me tuna for lunch and dinner and allowing me to skip the vegetables I greatly dislike, and Luki was making a fool of himself more than usual; however, it wasn't enough. Dad even asked me to take his Porsche for a joyride, he loves that car as much as he loves mom, but I declined his offer even though I was dying to take that car for a spin the moment he bought it. My heart feels too heavy, my mind is foggy, and I cannot focus on anything but Miku.

When I awake, I find my head is still buzzing with worry for my beloved Miku. Love overflows in my mind and makes me unable to think clearly, I barely eat any breakfast before I am out the door again. The only thing in my mind is Miku, I need to get back to the IMH and find out how she is. Love is such an amusing thing, completely consuming one with its flames that might ultimately lead to extreme agony and heartache.

It must be so much worse for Miku, all by herself in that hospital cowering from the fears that have manifested themselves physically into her life. Alone, without a single friend and not even having the support of her parents… It must be hell. Why do her parents ignore her, anyway? From my memory, Miku's parents are loving and kind people, a perfect pair of parents for a perfect daughter; what happened to make them abandon her completely?

My train of thought stops when I enter Miku's room to see her sleeping, curled up into a tight ball, her breakfast left on a tray to grow cold. I gently approach her bedside and watch her sleeping visage in silence, admiring her sweet and innocent beauty while mourning the tortured grimace in her features. She shifts and whimpers, probably having a bad dream, and I inch even closer to her.

"Luka…" her beautiful turquoise eyes focus on me, filling with relief instantly. She tries to sit up, but does not seem to have the energy to do so. I remember that she hasn't eaten since I have seen her; it is no wonder that she is so weak.

"Good morning, Miku, it's time for breakfast," I inform her cheerily, pushing aside the cold tray and taking out a leek sandwich instead. I hand it to her, but she shakes her head and buries herself further into her blankets. With a sigh, I snatch the blanket from her as gently as I can and place the sandwich at her lips. She struggles futilely; she does not have the energy to resist.

"It's a leek sandwich, Miku, you love leeks," I tell her; I see some recognition enter her eyes at the word 'leek'. She opens her mouth and hesitantly takes a nibble of the green vegetable, and her eyes light up. I cannot help but grin, Hatsune Miku still love leeks after all. I am glad, as long as my Miku still loves leeks; there is hope somewhere for her eventual recovery. She manages to finish half the sandwich before pulling away, which I consider a small victory, and I settle myself comfortably on the edge of her bed after I have wrapped the sandwich up and stored it.

"Tell me more about your life, Luka," she requests softly, shakily, as if she fears pushing me too far. I smile and gently pat her head, searching my mind for another pointless story about Lily that I can tell Miku to amuse her. I have many, and they all pretty much echo one another.

_I enter my house with a sigh, planning on spending my seventeenth birthday curled up and moping in bed as I have done for the past five years. Mom brings me various tuna-based dishes every year and Luki gets me a toy or something, but other than that it has never been much of an occasion. To me, my birthdays are a painfully slow countdown until I can return to my hometown once more._

_To my surprise, Lily, along with a couple hundred kids from school, leap out from various hiding places in the house shouting "Happy birthday, Luka!" at the top of their lungs. After the initial surprise, I glare disapprovingly at Lily, who just smirks at me. What the blazes are the entire third and fourth years doing in my house?!_

"_I thought you should live a little, Lu-chan," she teases, she knows I hate the nickname, "So I decided to throw you a birthday party. You always mope around on your birthday, it isn't healthy or normal, you know."_

_I simply give the airheaded blonde a glare, and she raises her hands and yells for the party to 'bring out the alcohol'. Exactly what I feared, for within the hour the party has become loud and unruly enough to be considered a public nuisance. I do not even know half the kids in my house, many of them are upperclassmen in Lily's year and there are many underclassmen that trail after me like miniature moons. Annoyed and fearful for Luki's sanity should he return home today, I throw myself into the drunk, wildly gyrating crowd in search of my best friend, hoping to get some answers._

"_Lily-chan, where the hell did you get all these people from?" I snarl when I finally find her. She has a small pink haired girl pinned under her on the couch, and a glass of amber alcohol in her hand._

"_Oh," she is obviously not drunk yet, but getting there. She untangles herself from the girl who flees to another side of the room, straightens her hair sheepishly and explains, "I got them from school."_

"_I don't even know half of these people!" I yell again, narrowly dodging a pair of boys that are headed to the closet (I do not want to think of what they are doing in there)._

"_Well, everyone here knows you, Lu-chan," she replies, rubbing the back of her head, "You're popular, you know. You're beautiful, tall, mysterious, no one knows a shit about your past and your family cos you never tell us anything and we all have no idea where you came from you just moved in outta nowhere, no one knows your sexual orientation and there are no rumors about you liking anyone cos you treat everyone in the same civil manner but me since you're always so violent to me you can't like me unless you're a Tsundere and I believe you have better taste and-"_

"_Lily," I interrupt her quickly, "__**Breathe**__."_

_She takes a deep breath and smiles, "Point taken. Where was I? Oh, and you're smart, athletic, friendly yet distant, have big boobs, you're cool-"_

_I cut in yet again, "Run that by me again." Quizzically, Lily repeats, "You're cool?" I shake my head, "No, before that."_

_Understanding enters her eyes as she repeats, "You have big boobs?" She already expects it when I scream at her, "LILY-CHAN! I told you not to invite those kinds of people to parties! They'll just get drunk and… and… you know!"_

_Her eyes glitter with amusement as she rebukes me, "Come on, live a little, Luka-chan. What are you, the Virgin Mary?" Pointedly, I reply icily, "I am a __**virgin**__."_

_Smiling widely, Lily says, "Precisely! We have to fix that-" I interrupt loudly again, "NO. NO WAY." Lily just laughs and heads off to find another victim amongst the hundreds of girls and guys in my house, leaving me to shuffle to my room in defeated silence. Does that girl even think properly? Ugh, I think her brain is seriously screwed up; all she thinks about is… destroying her body. City folk are nuts, five years of living amongst them and I still cannot understand their strange and wasteful, self-destructive ways._

_Luki better not come home tonight…_

Miku's eyes are wide when I finish telling the story with a fond smile on my face, she probably cannot believe that there actually really is this kind of crazy living in this world. "The city sounds… weird," she wrinkles her nose slightly, "unhealthy, and crazy, and kind of pointless."

Pointless…? I never thought of it that way, but it does indeed seem pointless to live a life wasting it away with liver-destroying alcohol, inviting diseases with debauchery and destroying lungs by smoking. Trust the mentally unstable one to find the dark side of such an amusing to watch lifestyle instantly. "True… but don't you find it amusing?" I ask.

Miku shakes her head to indicate her negative response, "Alcohol addiction isn't amusing at all." She tilts her head to one side, thinking a little, and then says with a hint of a smile on her face, "Debauchery is, however, and your reactions to Lily-san as well."

"Why you little-" I playfully flick her forehead, which makes her pout in response. She seems to be in a good mood, maybe I will be able to figure out some answers to my questions today.

"Miku, why don't your parents ever visit you?" I inquire, and she pales noticeably immediately. She shakes her head quickly and says she does not want to talk about it, so I decide to ask her about the maid. The Hatsunes were a very self-reliant, independent family in the past, why do they require a maid now?

Miku replies softly and shakily, as if hiding a large secret, "The maid… she takes care of… Mom… and… makes sure Dad's…" She trails off and then shakes her head furiously, indicating that she really cannot talk about this subject any more. I force down my curiosity and back off, not wanting to trigger her into more terrifying flashbacks.

"Luka…" Miku tugs at my sleeve, trembling a little, and I look at her as warmly and kindly as possible. In a soft and childlike voice she requests, "Hold me…"

I smile, "I'm more than happy to oblige, sweetheart." I slide into bed next to her and wrap my arms around her scarily thin body, kissing her forehead gently. She buries her face into my shoulder and breathes in deeply, telling me sweetly, "You smell nice…" I blush and thank her, stroking her hair gently and trying to think of some random small talk to help ease the awkwardness in my heart.

Thankfully, she saves me by asking rather randomly, "Do you still like tuna, Luka?"

Smiling, I tell her proudly, "Of course I do! Tuna is to me what leeks are to you." Miku smiles back and whispers shyly, an adorable blush suffusing her cheeks, "I'm glad you didn't change that much, Luka."

"I'm glad too," I reply, explaining when I notice her quizzical expression, "Because I get to be here with you now." Blushing, Miku leans up to kiss my cheek, which makes me turn a pink more vivid than my hair. My heart is racing and beating so loudly that she can probably hear it; I bury my face in her sweet-smelling hair to hide my embarrassment.

I love her so much, my sweet Hatsune Miku, she is my paradise where I finally feel happy, and my home where I know I will always belong. Even if her feelings for me have faded, which I kind of doubt, I will not leave her side and I will not stop loving her. She is my Miku, my adorable childhood sweetheart, the girl of my dreams and the girl I will never let go of.

I will find a way to help her forget the terrible past six years she has had, so she can live a somewhat normal life with me, away from here and away from everything that scares her. I will find out why her parents have abandoned her, I will find out why her family suddenly needs a maid, I will find out what happened these last six years, and I will find out what connections that purple haired purple eyed boy, Kamui Gakupo, and the Kagamines have to do with Miku's current state.

Though Miku has only just awoken barely forty-five minutes ago, she falls asleep again easily. Though, considering her energy level from her lack of nutrition, it is not all that surprising that she is asleep most of the time. My stomach growls loudly to complain about my meager breakfast and I untangle myself from her, deciding to go and grab a proper breakfast quickly before returning to cuddle with my Miku once more. I cannot have my growling stomach disturb her rest, and since she is mentally unstable I have no idea how she will view the sound in her own terrifying world.

Quietly, I head out of the hospital, cringing from the screaming and crashing sounds that emerge from certain other Ward D rooms, and emerge in the pale morning sunlight of the familiar streets I loved so much as a child. On my way home I walk past that house again, Kagamine, and I wonder once more what they have to do with Miku and her current pitiable condition. Passing by, I see only a middle-aged blonde woman hanging clothes in the yard, there is no indication that anyone scary enough to hurt Miku that badly lives there.

Back home, I wolf down a bowl full of tuna and rice, down a bottle of milk and steal a couple more of Dad's leeks to bring to Miku. I open a can of tuna for a final quick meal before heading out the house again, having finished half the house's tuna supply in about ten minutes. I need to go grocery shopping for both canned and fresh tuna. Considering the amount of the stuff I eat, it is surprising there are still tuna in the sea; I can probably finish off a whole school of the fish by myself in a week tops.

Swinging the plastic bag of leeks absently, I walk back towards the mental hospital while thinking of the strange purple haired, purple eyed samurai boy and wondering if he did indeed bully Miku. He did call her names and addressed her as "Hatsune" in a sneering tone without honorifics, as if he was speaking about a creature beneath him. If that boy did hurt Miku, I will rip out his balls and feed them to him, then peel off his skin and throw him into the sea. Could he have been an accomplice of the Kagamines, or were the Kagamines his subordinates?

As I walk toward the mental hospital deep in thought, I accidentally bump into a small-sized and cute-looking blonde boy (or did he bump into me? It happened when I wasn't noticing my surroundings while he was running). He is dressed in a white shirt and black and yellow shorts with a yellow tie, his hair is tied back in a short ponytail (another hairstyle city boys would spit upon), he has large puppy-dog like blue eyes and girlish features; in short the most unthreatening boy one could possibly lay eyes on. He apologizes profusely and shyly to me over and over, I repeatedly reassure him that I should have been paying attention to where I was going and it isn't entirely his fault because he looks so distraught that he will probably start bawling any minute. Bowing deeply an apologizing a final time, the small, puppy-like blonde says goodbye and rushes into the Kagamine house with a shy and soft call of "_Tadaima", I'm home._

That small little puppy-dog is a Kagamine…? Well, he definitely is not the one that hurt Miku; he looks too girly and unthreatening to hurt a fly. Of course, looks can be deceiving so that boy might not be as weak and puppyish as he seems, but from his attitude previously it seems quite unlikely. I continue on my way, frowning a little now, wondering if there are any other children in the Kagamine house besides that _Shota_ (girly boy).

I enter the hospital again; the nurse at the lobby gives me a smile and a wave, and I head straight to Miku's room. She is still fast asleep and breathing peacefully, and I slide into bed next to her and wrap my arms around her. As I stroke Miku's lovely turquoise hair, I wonder if I have met the Kagamine responsible for Miku's current state, and what that small boy could have possibly done to hurt Miku so badly. I cannot believe that boy is responsible, but until I have any clues otherwise he is my only suspect. Since Miku is not stable enough to tell me what has happened herself, I guess I will have to piece everything together by myself like Sherlock Holmes or something.

At the moment, my clues are Kamui Gakupo, the Hatsunes sudden need for a maid to watch over them and Kagamine, and the only Kagamine I have met thus far is a harmless and adorable _Shota. _Not very promising clues so far, but I will continue trying to figure out the past six years of Miku's life. How did all this birth the terrible shadowy world within Miku's shattered mind? _My sweet Miku, what in the world has happened to you?_


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Sorry for the wait! Lots of things happening and stress has made me sick… However, it is thanks to the fact that I am sick that I managed to get this new chapter up. I wrote it with a killer headache, so it might not be very enjoyable. Please read and review, and thanks for all the support!

Titania

_Previous chapter:_

_Luka's POV_

_At the moment, my clues are Kamui Gakupo, the Hatsunes sudden need for a maid to watch over them and Kagamine, and the only Kagamine I have met thus far is a harmless and adorable Shota. Not very promising clues so far, but I will continue trying to figure out the past six years of Miku's life. How did all this birth the terrible shadowy world within Miku's shattered mind? My sweet Miku, what in the world has happened to you?_

**Miku's POV**

I awake surrounded by a peaceful and sweet-smelling warmth, Luka. She is still asleep, breathing deeply with an angelic look on her relaxed features. _Beautiful,_ I think to myself, _Luka is amazingly beautiful…_ Feeling my gaze, Luka wakes and looks at me with sleepy eyes, "Morning, Miku."

"Morning, Luka," I respond softly, hoping that she will not resume her questioning of the tortures I have endured and caused in the past six years. I know that Luka needs to know to help me, but I cannot tell her. I cannot open the box of memories I have padlocked and hidden in the darkest corner of my mind to prevent me from ever stumbling upon them.

No such luck, she begins with a gentle question about the maid at my house that I honestly do not know of at all. We never had a maid, mom and dad must have gotten much worse to need one. Mom was bipolar, she needed frequent supervision, especially when she crashed, and dad was a slight alcoholic that also needed someone to keep an eye out for him or to keep him busy and happy so he will not drink. They always kept an eye on one another when I was little, and it worked out perfectly fine. What changed? Now that I am not in the house any more, shouldn't it be easier for them to take care of themselves?

"Megurine-san, excuse me," my usual nurse enters the room and I tense up completely. "The doctor needs Hatsune-san for a counseling session."

No, please, not that again… I look to Luka for help, she looks ready to protest against it when the nurse says, "We agreed to let you in to help, Megurine-san, but you're not a doctor or a miracle-worker."

Luka stiffens, sensing the underlying threat of being kicked out of the hospital, and reluctantly gets up to leave the room. She gives my hand a reassuring squeeze, leaving her jacket behind for me to cling on to. Ruffling my hair, she whispers, "Be strong, sweetie, I'll be back." I nod as bravely as I can and start trembling like a leaf in a whirlwind the moment the door closes behind Luka. I bury my face in her jacket, inhaling her scent deeply, trying desperately to calm myself as the shadows creep up from every corner.

_Thought you could run away, eh Hatsune? Fat chance! We'll always be here waiting… AHAHAHAHAHAHA!_

I grab my head in my hands and scream.

**Luka's POV**

I decide to pay the Hatsunes a visit while Miku is being counseled, hoping to find some answers about what had happened to my sweetheart. Walking up the familiar gravel pathway, I remember all the times I used to rush up it, sometimes holding on to Miku's hand, laughing and giggling and teasing. All those good times… The younger me would definitely not believe that the sweet and shy Miku would grow up into a mentally unstable, emotionally broken fourteen year old.

I knock on the door, and the maid opens it again. She looks rather worn and tired, but she recognizes me. "Hatsune Miku is not here," she tells me, attempting to close the door on me again. I jam it open with my foot and say, "I am here to see Miku's parents."

Before the maid can say anything, someone pulls open the door. I look up to see a woman with shoulder length turquoise hair and bright blue eyes, Miku's mother. She looks surprised and disoriented to see me, and then engulfs me in a sudden hug.

"Luka-chan! It's been too long! Look at how much you've grown!" she sounds high, as if she is on drugs or something. I look at her suspiciously, in my memory she was a stern but warm woman who was not exactly the most affectionate person. This is very unlike her, is she seriously taking drugs…? Is that why she is not capable of taking care of Miku?

"Ichiro, Ichiro, come and see who has come to visit us after so long!" she calls excitedly, and the man in question comes shuffling from the kitchen smelling strongly of alcohol and vomit. I try not to cringe away from him while the maid rebukes him, telling him he should not be drinking.

"Shaddup," he waves her away, looking at me in confusion before he recognizes me,"Luka-chan… You're that pink haired wretch who abandoned my daughter!" He starts to throw things at me, and his wife who is still embracing me, and I quickly sidestep. Used to the drunken rages of classmates and strangers at Lily's parties, I am nimble and alert enough to get out of his way.

"Ichiro, Ichiro!" Both his wife and the maid grab him, forcing his arms behind his back and shoving him into a corner. Fortunately, Miku's father has always been a small-sized man and lacks the physical strength to make his drunken rages really destructive. The small green haired man has broken down and is sobbing noisily, "Miku, oh Miku, what have I done?"

I am confused, it seems that he misses Miku, so why doesn't he just clean up his act and go and see her? She's a five minute walk away! The maid looks at me apologetically and ushers him to his room, and then forces Miku's mother to take some sort of medication that makes her quiet and less hyperactive. Leading me to the living room, the maid settles on the couch and explains, "The Hatsunes are not the same people you used to know; I think that is pretty obvious. When Hatsune Miku was hospitalized after a severe beating that nearly cost her her life, Ichiro-san went crazy. He felt guilty that he had not seen the signs that his only child was being bullied, and started to drink uncontrollably. In this state, he did not look out for his wife, who is bipolar, and she ignored her medication. Her condition worsened and his drinking got out of hand until I was called to take care of them under the guise of a live-in maid."

She pauses as I struggle to absorb everything, and then continues, "They know Hatsune Miku is but five minutes away, but both of them feel they have let her down and do not deserve to see her. Also, if they see the condition their daughter is in, it will only serve to worsen their guilt."

I nod blankly, my throat is dry. So much agony has befallen this little family while mine prospered and grew… I would never have believed it if anyone told me that the cheerful and close-knit Hatsune family would be reduced to this… So much has changed, and I hate it. I remember a quote I read somewhere, "_**All change is for the worst.**_" I find myself agreeing with it wholeheartedly, for if nothing had changed, the Hatsune family will not be torn to pathetic shreds like this.

Having gotten the answers I have desired, I stumble blankly out of the Hatsune residence. I head to the old family-run café tucked in a peaceful corner by the park and order a cup of tea, sipping at it as I try to organize everything in my messed-up head. As I am doing this, a blue haired boy with a blue scarf around his neck comes in and orders something. I pay him no attention until he pulls up a chair and joins me at my table, a bowl of ice-cream in his hand.

"Hey, pretty lady, I haven't seen you around before," the boy looks around Miku's age, younger than that obnoxious purple-haired Kamui Gakupo that I was unfortunate enough to meet once in my lifetime. "Are you new here?"

"Nope. I'm old," I respond vaguely, wondering if this boy knows anything about whatever happened to Miku. I am also wondering if I can handle another shock, what I have learned about the Hatsunes has already taken enough out of me.

The boy takes a scoop of ice-cream into his mouth, swallows and then says, "I'm Shion Kaito. You are?" I ignore him, burying myself in my thoughts as I remember all the good times I shared with Miku in this very park, in this very café eating ice-cream on hot Summer days and drinking hot chocolate on cold Winter afternoons. Under my breath, I mumble, "Miku…"

The boy's face scrunches up in disgust suddenly, attracting my attention back to him. "Miku? As in Hatsune Miku? What's a pretty girl like you doing thinking about a mentally deranged b*tch like her?"

How many people in this town hate my sweetheart? I suppress my anger and resist the urge to snap the boy's head off, telling him icily, "Hatsune Miku is my friend and she's the sweetest girl I've ever been privileged enough to meet." The boy, Shion Kaito, sneers, "Well, you probably never had any good friends then. I pity you, pretty girl."

My anger flares again, but I push it down, finish my tea quickly and disappear before he can continue bugging me. I retrace old, overgrown paths back to the clearing where I had confessed to Miku all those years ago and lie there, looking at the sky. At least, after so many years, the sky remains the same…

Shion Kaito, Kamui Gakupo, Kagamine. There is a link somewhere, between them and what happened to Miku, and I will find it. Whatever happened to Miku must be devastating, for it to have completely torn apart the fabric of the Hatsune family. How did a bunch of fourteen to sixteen year olds do such damage? What in the world could Kamui Gakupo, Shion Kaito and the Kagamines have done to destroy a family's sanity so utterly?

If those people did indeed harm Miku, screw Luki's peace-loving statements, screw my conscience and screw the law, they are going to pay very dearly for it. Despite my very womanly figure and looks, I am very strong (I'm a habitual weight-lifter and a gym-going exercise freak) and I will be able to give those boys a beating of a lifetime. If they did hurt her and try to even look at her funny again… goddess help them. They will be seeing Hell dealt to them by a pink haired devil.

I can feel my blood boiling as I head back to the mental hospital; fortunately the blue haired boy has disappeared. There is no telling what I will do to him if I do see him right now. Maybe I'll strangle him with that scarf of his. A scarf in the Summer is very impractical after all, might as well put it to better use.

I calm myself down completely when I enter the hospital, not wanting to frighten Miku, but panic rises when I hear a terrible screaming and sobbing coming from Miku's room the moment I get on the same floor as it. I race down the hallway and burst in to the room to find my sweetheart huddled in a corner, holding my jacket tightly in her trembling arms, trapped in a terrible breakdown. The doctor and nurse stand helplessly to one side, at a complete loss, and I race over to Miku's side immediately. I have no idea what to do and no idea if she will respond to me, I simply cannot bear to see her in so much fear and pain.

"Miku, it's me, Luka," I tell her gently when she cringes away from me; she looks up at the sound of my voice and then throws herself into my arms. She is trembling furiously; my jacket balled up in her hands and soaked with her tears. Miku's small body has curled in on itself defensively, her knees and arms pressed to her chest, her hands shakily holding my jacket to her face like a mask.

I cradle her gently and pull her extremely light frame into my lap, whispering soothingly into her ear until her sobbing slowly ceases. Miku wraps her long arms around my neck, abandoning my jacket in her bony lap and burying her face in my chest. She starts to whimper "Luka, Luka, Luka, Luka…" endlessly, as if gaining comfort from my name, and I stroke the back of her head gently. The doctor and nurse look at me with wide eyes, they have obviously never seen anyone get Miku to calm down before. Respectfully and in an awed voice, the nurse says, "I correct myself, Megurine-san, you _are_ a miracle worker." The doctor shushes her and they leave the room together, closing the door behind them and giving us absolute privacy.

I kiss Miku's forehead and gently hum the tune to Miku's favorite song, Magnet. Upon hearing it, Miku calms down completely and is quickly asleep in my arms, exhausted from the terrible breakdown she has just experienced. I continue to hum the song, remembering the day we first heard it on the radio years ago…


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Hey all! It has been a while… sorry about that. Thanks for all the support and reviews; it really makes me feel happy! Oh, yeah, there is no rape included in Miku's past; I have a limit to my cruelty. I love Miku too much to let her get raped.**

**Please read and review!**

**Haruka**

_Previous chapter:_

_Luka's POV_

_I kiss Miku's forehead and gently hum the tune to Miku's favorite song, Magnet. Upon hearing it, Miku calms down completely and is quickly asleep in my arms, exhausted from the terrible breakdown she has just experienced. I continue to hum the song, remembering the day we first heard it on the radio years ago…_

**Luka's POV**

_We were sitting in the café, eating ice-cream on a particularly warm Summer day, when the radio in the corner finally stopped playing static and found a mainland radio station to tune into. "Have a listen to Crypton's new brainchild, Magnet!" a man was saying cheerfully._

_Miku and I had not the faintest idea who or what Crypton was, but when the music started we were both enchanted. It was a beautiful song about a forbidden love between two girls, about their desire to stay with each other despite the troubles they would definitely face. When the song finished, the radio returned to playing static once more, as if some heavenly being had manipulated the radio waves to let us hear that beautiful song._

_Miku scrunched up her adorable face in confusion and then sang softly, perfectly, "__**Yurusarenai koto naraba naosara moe agaru no**__…" (Even if this is something that is unforgivable, the flames jump higher still…) I look at her, enchanted by her voice, and she looks back at me, asking, "Hey, Luka, why is it 'unforgivable' for two girls to love one another?"_

"_I don't know, but I don't think there's anything wrong with it," I replied, straining my mind to find any reason why people would find the love between two girls unforgivable. When people saw Miku and I holding hands, sharing ice-cream and tearing up and down the town together, people always said we were 'adorable' and 'cute' and 'sweet'. Why would it become 'unforgivable' in the future? It did not make any sense to me._

"_That's good," Miku smiled adorably, making my heart flutter, "Because I love you." I had no idea if Miku seriously loved me that way or just loved me as a friend or worst still, a sister, and I did not dare to return the sentiment._

_We got a little lecture on religion and the sin of homosexuality and bisexuality from the café owner, but that did not change our minds. After all, then I was already in love with Miku, and I was quite sure that it was no mistake and no sin._

What a clichéd childhood love story our life started out as, I muse inwardly, if only it could end as such… So many things have happened in the past six years that have drastically changed our circumstances. I long to destroy those who have hurt my beloved Miku, and this time I do not bother to lecture myself. I know that violence is not always the answer, but for my first few years in the city it was. I had constantly been made fun of for my pink hair (people in my village have the strangest hair colors, I think it is pretty obvious), and I, unlike Miku, did not retreat into myself and cry. I had always had a violent, tomboyish streak I tried hard to suppress, but I had enough of the city kids' crap and I beat them all up one day. After that, I would fight whoever who crossed me, I became quite the delinquent and I was in the Principal's office so often I addressed her by her given name. My motto was "**Violence always works. If it doesn't, you're just not using enough of it.**" I have mellowed over the years when the bullying stopped, but the inner tough girl Luka still exists, it's why I love the gym so much. I want to stay strong. I want to be able to fight well and win when I have to.

If I had been here for Miku, those people who bullied her will be the ones afraid of us, scampering in the opposite direction the moment they get a glimpse of my cherry blossom pink hair. Unfortunately, fate had different plans, and I was fighting my own battles while Miku was losing hers. Kamui Gakupo, Shion Kaito and a Kagamine, I wonder what kind of tortures I should make them undergo for all they have done to Miku. I watch my beloved sleep until I myself fade off into dreamland, where all my troubles do not exist.

I wake around noon to a grumbling stomach and I rustle through the bags I have brought to find an apple to munch on. Miku wakes to the sound and I offer her a leek, which she is more than happy to take. Watching her devour that vegetable that most people dislike with shining eyes, I am reminded of the old Hatsune Miku, who can work her way through an entire bag of leeks during a movie while other people are eating popcorn or potato chips.

"Luka," she whispers softly, "You went to my house, didn't you?"

Surprised and kind of guilty, I nod, wondering how she knew. As if she read my mind, she replies, "You smell like my mom." Ah… Miku's extremely sensitive sense of smell, that explains everything. I ask her if she knows of her parents' condition, and she shakes her head 'no'.

"I haven't seen them in a year, Luka," her eyes are starting to tear up again as she nibbles on the last of her leek, "Why don't they come and see me?" I gently pat her head, my heart aching for her, and tell her the truth about her parents' state as gently and softly as I can. I refuse to tell her why they are that way; I fear that she will feel guilty about something that was never her fault.

Saddened and crushed by the news, Miku huddles unresponsively on her bed, still as a statue as tears free fall from her lifeless, glazed-over eyes. I try waving a leek before her nose, calling her name and even calling my own, but to no avail. Lost in her world of hurt, my sweet Miku cannot find her way back. I cannot blame her, to suddenly find out after a year of loneliness that the parents you loved so dearly have come unscrewed and are probably no better off than yourself… it must be devastating. How can anyone blame Miku for feeling hurt, lost and broken?

"_**Kabosoi hi ga kokoro no haji ni tomoru, itsu no manika moe hirogaru netsujou**_," at a loss of what to do, I raise my voice and sing softly, gently, "_**Watashi no chou fukisoku ni tobimawari, anata no te ni rinpun wo tsuketa**_." I see her stiffen, recognizing the tune of our favorite song, Magnet, and I continue onward a little louder, "_**Karami au yubi hodoite, kuchibiru kara shita he to**_."

Miku joins in, singing delicately in her sweet and flute-like voice, "_**Yurusarenai koto naraba naosara moe agaru no**_…" I do not stop singing, and we complete the song together without missing a beat even though we both probably have not heard it in years. I know why we can pull off the song so beautifully; however stupid and freaky it may sound, I am sure that Magnet is a part of our souls, a perfect song to express the feelings in our heart.

However, are those feelings still the same now…? It does not matter if Miku feels only platonic love towards me now, for the romantic love within me for her will not fade away. My love, my so called "polluted" and "sinful" love, will always be here in my heart, burning. Let reason flutter around this flame helplessly like a butterfly, unable to do anything but watch the flames of sinful love consume my entire heart… Crypton Future Media sure did a beautiful job bringing Magnet into the world.

"_**Fureteite modorenakute ii, sore de ii no dare yori mo taisetsuna anata…**_" _I've touched you, I can never go back, and that's fine. You're everything in the world to me…_

Sobbing, Miku collapses into my arms and wails out the knot of agony in her heart. There is too much sorrow and darkness within her for such a small body to contain; if only I could share her burden or, even better, liberate her from it… Helplessly, I cradle the petite and bony girl in my arms as she wails the condition of her kind and loving parents, parents who never deserved so terrible a fate upon them and their beloved daughter…

I hold her tightly, feeling her tears soak through my shirt, softly singing another one of my favorite songs, Drop of Regret. The rhythm slowly calms Miku's sobs, washing over her like gentle waves that slowly carry away her pain into the deep and mysterious depths of the ocean. Inhaling the beautiful scent of Miku, I silently mourn the painful past that has frayed the strings of my sweet Miku's beautiful mind. If only I had been here for her, if only…

When she finally calms down again, I try to get her to eat something and manage at least to get her to drink a little water. Considering the amount of tears she has shed over the last few days, it is no wonder than Miku downed the whole bottle in one go and asked for more. Fearing water poisoning, I only allow her half the next bottle, which thankfully satisfies her thirst.

Laying there on the bed, thin and almost as pale as the crisp white bed sheets, Miku has never looked so… _tired_ and f_ragile_. She is but a husk of her former self, a girl that remains behind in a body and mind too broken to continue functioning. Collapsed upon itself, the wreck of her mind and emotions stare at me defiantly, daring me to try and fix them again. _The pink haired devil accepts the challenge,_ I think to myself, _I could never abandon Miku._

"Luka," she whispers hoarsely in a voice barely above a whisper, "Can you please… sing Magnet again for me?"

I smile and nod, "Anything for you, sweetie." Raising my voice, I start to sing again, watching as Miku's eyes take on a faraway, dreamy look and she disappears into a world better than this one.

Miku's POV

"_**Kurikaeshita no wa ano yume janakute, magire mo nai genjitsu no watashi-tachi. Furete kara moderenai to shiru, sore de ii no dare yori mo taisetsuna anata…**_"

Hypnotized by Luka's beautiful voice, my mind seeks an old, faded memory that I have long shoved away and takes me down its lovely paths, showing me the days I had spent by Luka's side chasing butterflies in the forest, climbing trees, fleeing from the occasional wolf when we wander too far, bearing the scolding of our worried and horrified parents… those were the days indeed. Those were the days where I was still s_ane_.

Again and again, Luka sings Magnet for me, providing me the key to the best times of my life that I had once thought a dream, while my nightmarish existence under Kamui and Shion's hands was still ongoing. Now, though they are gone, their shadows remain in my mind, forever haunting me until I finally disappear from this accursed world.

"_Miku, when we grow up, I'll marry you someday. I promise." There are two small girls sitting side by side on a tree branch watching the sunset. One is obviously taller and older, the one with cherry blossom pink hair, and the other girl, who has turquoise hair the color of the sea, is leaning on her shoulder._ _The turquoise haired girl, my younger self, looks up at the pink haired girl, the younger Luka, with a hint of a blush on her cheeks, asking shyly,_ _"What do you mean, Luka?"_

_Luka replies with a gentle smile, "I'll make you officially mine, Miku. And we'll be together forever, protecting and helping each other no matter what." The younger me blushes even darker at that, my cheeks matching Luka's hair in hue, and I say in a small voice, "I'd like that."_

_Upon hearing that, Luka brightens up even further, her radiance outshining the beautiful setting Sun's, and my younger self sits in silence, enthralled by Luka's beauty. "It would be a dream come true if I could marry you someday, Miku," she says, and my younger self responds with, "Then I'll make that dream come true."_

_We both look at one another, entranced by the sincerity, love and affection in one another's gaze. Ignoring the setting Sun and the wonderful golden, scarlet and violet hues of the sky, we get lost in the amazing colors of one another's eyes. Luka's sky colored orbs, reflecting the light of dusk; shines and glitters with a beauty the world could never hold a candle to. Our hands meet, our fingers intertwine, and as if we have practiced it for years, we both say one word at the exact same time._

"_Promise."_

Without thinking I announce, "You promised you'd marry me once." Luka stops singing, shocked, and coughs. Blushing vividly, she asks shakily, "D-did I; n-now?" I nod, blushing myself as I reply, "You were… ten at the time, if I remember correctly…"

Luka's blush intensifies when she remembers, "Oh yeah… We both promised…"

"Is it true?" I ask hesitantly, wanting to know if Luka still loves me, "Is marrying me a dream come true for you, Luka?"

She avoids the question, looking away awkwardly, and I do not press on. I know what it feels when you have things you don't want to say but people keep pestering you no matter what, I do not want Luka to have to experience the same. An awkward silence envelops us until Luka breaks it again, softly singing Magnet under her breath. I join in, lulled along by the addictive memory, and we sing the song that connects our hearts in endless loops.

I have forgotten what it feels like… to be _happy_…

Luka's POV **[Two days later]**

I wake up to someone gently shaking my shoulder; I blink in confusion until I recognize the nurse, Megumi-san or something. I don't really remember names that well, maybe it's Misaki, or Mekami? Never mind, why the heck is she waking me up now?

"Megurine-san," she whispers softly when she sees my eyes are open, backing away from Miku's bedside in case the turquoise haired girl wakes up and breaks down from her close proximity. Confused, I get out of the bed and hurry to the bathroom to wash up, getting a bad feeling from the look on the nurse' face.

When I get out, she directs me to the eerily quiet and shadowy lobby outside Miku's room; her face is as pale as a sheet and her eyes carry a kind of exhaustion, as if she has just been a part of something she did not and should not have been in. "It is about Hatsune Miku-san's parents."

I steel myself, the silent and dark, gloomy surroundings almost seem like an author's attempt at foreshadowing. It means something bad is probably about to be revealed next, something devastating.

"Hatsune Rina-san was found dead in the bathroom this morning," the nurse says softly, "She committed suicide by drowning herself in the bathtub. She left a note, '_The Megurines have raised a beautiful, unflinching, steadfast and strong daughter, while I have let my own wilt away in a mental hospital. I am not worthy of life.'_"

I pale, my heart almost stops. I cannot believe it… my visit caused Miku's mother to commit suicide. I killed Miku's mother… it is all my fault…

"Megurine-san, it is _not_ your fault and if you keep thinking it is, you'll only drive yourself in here as a patient. How will you help Hatsune-san then?" The nurse scolds, pulling me out of that dark space before I can get in too deep. "Hatsune Rina-san was bound to do this someday; her disorder had gotten so out of hand that keeping her alive would be impossible within months because of the constant requirement to increase her Lithium dosage. She would either die from a depression or overdose."

"Still-" The nurse cuts me off, speaking in a no-nonsense tone, "It is **not** your fault and that is **final**. Do I make myself clear?"

With a squeak, I reply, "Yes M'am." That nurse can be scary when she wants to be… She directs me to Miku's room once more and tells me to break it to my sweetheart as gently as I can and to be there for her as much as I can. She tells me that I am not allowed to feel guilty about the death of Miku's mother because it is not my fault, and that Miku will pick up on my negative emotions and spiral even worse into depression if I beat myself up over it. I have no idea how true the nurse's words are, but I do not want to risk anything when it concerns my sweet Miku.

Now, how can I possibly break this news to Miku? How do I tell her that her beloved mother is dead? I fear that Miku will not be able to take it in her fragile state… What happens if she chooses to try to go the same way her mother did?

"_You can't let her, Luka. You two still have that promise to fulfill, you have to make her better and marry her."_ Instead of calling my inner voice and idiot and chasing it away as I normally would have, I cling on to that childhood promise and steady myself to talk to Miku. No matter how painful, long and winding the road ahead may be, I will tough it out, and I will try my best to keep that promise, if she will let me.

I will marry Hatsune Miku, just like I promised. That will be the hope that keeps me fighting every step of the way.

**[The next day]**

They are holding a funeral for Miku's mother, but Miku is much too unstable to attend it. Since I broke the news to her yesterday morning, my sweetheart has been crying nonstop until she fell asleep, even Magnet could not console her. She wailed, heartbroken by her mother's untimely demise, asking why in a torn and broken voice that the world had taken her mother away too.

"Haven't you taken enough?!" she screamed at the shadows that only she could see, "I have given you everything but my existence! My present, my future, my s_anity_, you have it all! What more do you want?" I could only hold her, crying myself, unable to say a word to help alleviate her agony, until we both disappeared into the darkness of dreamland.

Today, she is a little better, sniffling quietly but willing to take water and a little food, withdrawn into her shell in self-defense. I lie beside her, holding her and gently stroking her hair, clinging on to that single hope that still burns high within me. She has come to terms with the terrible event, she looks as if she has gotten used to terrible things befalling her. It saddens me greatly to think how much pain she must have gone through to become like this.

It is around noon when Miku finally speaks again; her voice is hoarse and raspy from all the crying and wailing she has done. "Luka…?" She is hesitant, as if wondering if she should actually say what she wants to say. I respond gently, relieved that she is speaking and wanting her to get everything off her overloaded chest, "Hmm?" She takes a shaky breath and asks, "My mom… she's not in pain any more, is she?"

Pain pierces my heart as I smile at her sadly, "No. She's free from all her problems now." She is so much like a small child, wondering if her dead mother is finally free in the Heaven I do not believe exists. Miku looks satisfied with my answer, nuzzling into my chest and saying softly, "That's good."

"You wouldn't do it, would you, Miku?" I ask worriedly, looking down at the tangled mass of turquoise buried in my chest. Miku looks up at me, her eyes completely unguarded, showing me the extent of the terrible damage done to her mind and heart. Broken and empty, those eyes carry more pain than I ever thought a human being was capable of feeling.

"I think of it, sometimes," she admits in a soft voice, but she does not sound guilty at all. Miku is choosing her words slowly and carefully, looking at me in the eye to show her blazing sincerity, "But I would never do it." I let out a breath I did not know I was holding as Miku continues, "Mom had nothing left she wanted to live for, but I'm different."

She looks up at the whitewashed ceiling in silence, and then meets my eyes again. "I have someone I'd go to Hell and back for. I have someone I'm willing to tough out this pointless existence for." She takes a deep breath, her eyes never leaving mine.

"That someone is _**you**_, Luka."

Upon hearing that, I cried like a baby, unable to believe that the girl I love cares so much about me in return. I am not alone fighting for Miku's life; for it seems that she too is willing to try fight for it. Together, we will make it through to see the light of tomorrow.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Sorry for the wait! I tried to make it longer to make up for it… I hope it is good enough. Please read and review! If you have any suggestions, don't hesitate to leave them lying about where I can see them, and if I love them I shall try take them up! If you have none, well, watch the story unfold together with me!**

**To chaosrin: I loved the idea of a tough-girl Luka, it is unlike the usual Mary-Sue Luka, school idol and most popular girl in school. She feels almost **_**tsundere**_** to me here, it is rather amusing.**

**To Unknown: Don't worry, there is no rape, this is T-rated after all!**

**To Truna: Was it fluffy enough? Or should I overdose the fluff to make you puke rainbows? (If I can).**

**To Jun3Calv: The violence quote is also one of my favorites (though I cannot remember where it is from)! I am a fighter and proud of it!**

**To: NyaNya18: Cat~! HAHA Thanks for the compliment; and Luka will be doing a sizable amount of butt kicking if I have anything to say about it (and I have a lot to say, I'm the author).**

**Haruka**

_Previous Chapter:_

"_That someone is __**you**__, Luka."_

_Upon hearing that, I cried like a baby, unable to believe that the girl I love cares so much about me in return. I am not alone fighting for Miku's life; for it seems that she too is willing to try fight for it. Together, we will make it through to see the light of tomorrow._

Miku's POV

When the sunlight filters through the windows and over my eyes, it awakens me from my dreamless sleep. Pain grips my heart as the mind numbing reality of my mother's death presses upon me, ripping me to shreds. She may have believed herself a lousy mother, but she was the best mother to me and forever will be.

I have so little left to lose, yet I am still losing it. Barely anything remains of all that I have loved, treasured and enjoyed, and life is still taking things away. How much more do they want from me? I have lost almost everything the past six years, does that not satisfy them?

Before I can stop myself, I have sent myself spiraling into yet another terrifying flashback. Yellow, blue and purple fills my vision, cold and cruel eyes bore into me, claws raking down my back, fists colliding against my weak body… "AAAAAHHHHH!"

The sound awakens Luka, who is by my side in an instant, but I can barely see or feel her any more. All I know is the terror of those times, tormented by those voices, those eyes, those colors… _"Hey, Runt, are you sure you belong in this Year?" "Your parents should have shot you like farmers do with the runt of the litter!" "Sure would've saved us trouble!" Kamui and Shion are standing over me, sneering, and I am on the floor with my books strewn everywhere again. They always trip me at every opportunity, making me drop everything in my hands so they can kick my homework around. I hesitantly get up on my knees to pick one up; Shion kicks the book away from me and Kamui kicks me in the face. I cry out and back away from them, blood dripping from my nose, and Kamui examines his sneaker while making a face, "Eww, now you've got your disgusting runt blood on my shoe!" I whimper, terrified of what he will do to me, apologizing pathetically and continuously. My entire body is trembling, I feel so weak…_

That is one of the better days, where things do not get too bad. A worse one is bursting forth from my memories, filling my vision with yellow. Kagamine… No, not her, please, not that day… _No! I didn't do it! It wasn't me, it wasn't me, I swear! No! Please stop! It hurts! AAAAAHHHHHH!_

Sobbing and curling into a ball, I tremble as the terrible memories of that day engulf me entirely. I cannot do anything to protect myself, not now and not back then. I am so helpless, so pathetic… That is why Kamui and Shion picked on me, I was easy, and I gave them plenty of reasons… Was I unlucky, or did I deserve all that they did to me?

Did I deserve it all, making mistakes and being laughed at for them, being excluded and beaten, kicked around like a cowering puppy? I scream again, the pain is such a vivid memory… _It hurts, I feel like my body is on fire… I can't move my arms; I can't feel my legs any more… every breath I take fills me with agony… I cannot even scream any more, it hurts too much and my voice is far too weak to make any more sounds…_

I feel Luka's lips on my forehead, warm and gentle, and I desperately cling on to it, my only connection with my present reality. The pain is still there; the terror still chokes me and makes my heart hammer… _I'm scared, Luka… It hurts…_ The memory is changing again, to something much less terrifying than Kagamine but not all that better. _I'm terrified, Luka… What should I do…?_

Yellow, blue and purple flashes keep filling my vision; I can hear all their taunts… It hurts… AAAAAHHHH! _Let me go, please… oh goddess, no, please, no… Anything but that… No, no, no!_ Luka is shouting my name now, holding me tightly to her._ Don't let me go, Luka… _I fight to claw my way out of the flashback, clinging on to pieces of reality and dragging them down here with me. Luka's voice, Luka's warmth, Luka's smell… Bit by bit I pull her closer to me, until I can see her through the flashes of the past. I call out her name weakly, trying to resist my body's insane urge to bolt from her arms and hide in a small corner.

"Miku!" she looks relieved, pulling back a little. _No, Luka…!_ The moment I lose her warmth and scent I flounder again, and sink. I feel myself wrenching away from her grasp and pressing my body into the wall, trying desperately to disappear into it.

"Miku," she approaches me again, I yelp as a flash of yellow takes up my vision, dealing a blow to my stomach that bowls me over. The pain is intense, lights are flashing in my head, I press myself further into the wall with a wail.

"Miku!" she speaks louder again, trying to catch my attention. Trembling, I force myself to look at her through the terrible memories, flinching as their voices continue to echo coldly in my head.

"Miku, I want to help you, but I can't do this alone. I need you to try and let me in to your world. I know it is very difficult and painful for you, but you have to try nevertheless," the honesty in Luka's eyes strikes me, and I remember… this is Luka… my Megurine Luka. She won't hurt me, she won't lie to me. My Luka would never mean me any harm.

But can I do this…? Can I face the fears I have been trying to hide from? Do I have the strength to pick up the pieces, brave the storm and move forward? _'Well, you've been pretty unsuccessful so far,'_ the old Miku comments in my head, _'so why not give something else a shot?'_ I have not heard the old me in years… and I agree with her. Maybe I can do it, maybe I cannot, but if I do not try I will never find out. It is not as if I am alone in this, I have Luka by my side.

Ignoring the painful and terrifying flashes of yellow, blue and purple, I shakily reach out my hand. The terror builds, but I brave it anyway, because I know that Luka will not treat me the way they did. The immense amount of effort it takes for me to voluntarily reach for a person in the midst of a flashback is not unknown to Luka; I can see the understanding, encouragement and growing pride in her beautiful blue eyes. As my hand finally comes to a rest in hers, I send her a silent plea.

_Change me._

She wraps her arms around me and I bury my face in her chest and sob. She strokes the back of my head and starts singing Magnet very softly, extremely gently, soothing my terrified mind. Safe in Luka's embrace, I cry until I am unable to bring forth any more tears.

**[Lunch]**

Luka has brought me a leek sandwich again, and I am back in my bed munching on it. My head is no longer churning; the flashback tossed away in the back of my mind once more. Luka is polishing off her second tuna sandwich now, looking absently out the window at the world I am much too broken to live in.

Having finished all the food she has brought for breakfast, Luka wraps up the container in a plastic bag and stuffs it in her backpack. Nibbling at my meal, I continue to watch her; hypnotized by the way the light reflects off her beautiful eyes and shimmers in her cherry blossom pink hair. Feeling my gaze, Luka turns to face me, eyes meeting mine, and she asks, "Do you remember the day you first started school?"

I nod, smiling at the warm memory, "You refused to leave my side, even when the teacher told you to." I wonder why she mentioned it; it was more or less like any other usual day we had spent together as kids.

"I couldn't bear to be away from you," Luka replies, making me blush, "Especially when you were so scared of being left alone."

_In the Nursery 1 classroom, the four year old me stands hesitantly, looking at the other kids fearfully. There are two familiar faces among them, a blonde with amber eyes and a really tall girl with dark hair and heterochromatic eyes, Akita Neru and Yokune Ruko. They live along the same street I do, and mom had tried arranging play dates with them and me. The play dates never worked out, I was too shy to say a word and Luka would barge in and sweep me away the moment she could. Still, it comforted me a little to see some familiar faces; it made me feel less alone._

_Luka is studying in the elementary wing of the school, but she has accompanied me here to the kindergarteners' section of the school because I begged her to the day before. Holding on tightly to her hand, I find myself reluctant to let go, and I shiver by her side at the thought of her leaving._

"_Do you want me to stay with you?" Luka asks suddenly, looking down at the trembling me, "I would love to, you know."_

_I look up at her hopefully, really wanting her to stay. Before I can say anything, the bell rings and the teacher enters the classroom, telling everyone to get seated. In Nursery school, there are no tables and assigned seats, everyone is seated on a huge red mat before the teacher._

"_Megurine Luka, what are you doing here? You are in the second year!" the teacher rebukes, Luka does not let go of my hand and raises her eyes to challengingly meet the teacher's. 'So what if I am?' her eyes seem to say, 'I want to be here.'_

"_You have classes to attend, Megurine," the teacher frowns at her defiance, squinting at our connected hands, our intertwined fingers. "Your worry for Hatsune-san is perfectly understandable and adorable, but you both have to learn to stand on your own once in a while."_

_Upon hearing that, I whimper, gripping Luka's hand a little tighter. Luka smiles down warmly at me, her eyes assuring me that she will do everything she can to stay by my side. The teacher sighs and asks Luka to get to her own class as she is already late. Defiantly, Luka disobeys her, drawing the attention of all my new classmates to us. Akita Neru looks faintly amused; Yokune Ruko is on the verge of falling asleep as usual._

_The teacher gives in and says Luka can stay with me for the day, but must return to her own class tomorrow. Luka grins at me triumphantly, settling down next to me as we run through the basic alphabets and mathematics that Luka has already taught me. With the pink haired girl's warm presence by my side, I am safe; nothing in the world can hurt me._

_I am safe._

We continue talking about all sorts of random memories, including the second day of school where Luka 'invaded' the kindergarten wing countless times with every spare moment she got just to spend time by my side. Every single teacher called us "adorable", "endearing" and said it was "touching for two girls to care so deeply for one another".

Luka is the protective type, a wall of flame that warms those under her protection and gives them light, and brutally burns those who try to get past her. She has beaten up many bullies for me since I first entered school, people were not happy that I was so close to a pretty and admirable senior like Luka and took it out on me, or they just wanted to pick on me because I was easy and would never fight back.

"I remember the first time I ever beat someone up," Luka laughs, "I think he still jumps when he sees the color pink now."

I chuckle faintly in response, remembering that playground bully as well. He was big for his age and extorted money from the other kids and beat them up. He was in the third year, older than all the little kids he tormented. He never cared about the feelings of others and was a terrible person, never reacting to reprimands from his parents or the teachers. Luka decided that only violence would stop him, and violence it was she gave him that day.

_Yoshii Akihiro, the playground bully, marches over to the four year old me and the group of Nursery 1 students gathered near me. They yelp and shiver like terrified puppies when they see him and obediently hand over their pocket money, receiving twists to the ears or a slap in the face from him as they scampered away. Even Neru-chan handed over her money, though she glared at him and mumbled bad words that people my age should not even know under her breath at him. Everyone in class, save Ruko-chan, are terrified of Yoshii Akihiro and hate his guts. Ruko-chan never fell prey to him before for two reasons, one: she was so tall she was taller than even him and two: she was always sleeping in class and never bothered to go to the playground._

"_Hey, Hatsune, your turn!" he remembers me because of my hair, all the villages atop and around this mountain have at least one family with strange hair colors in it. This village has the Megurine family with cherry blossom pink hair, the Hatsune family with turquoise hair, and the Akita family with blonde hair._

_I refuse to hand over my money, shaking my head as defiantly as I can even though I am quaking in my boots. I need that money to buy Luka a birthday present, and I cannot keep my money at home before coming to school because dad gives me my pocket money at the school gate._

"_Eh? Need a couple of bruises first before you will hand over your money, hmm, Hatsune?" the bully laughs and strides over to me, easily picking me up and slamming me into the wall. I yelp in pain, trying futilely to kick him and break free._

_Suddenly, someone clears his or her throat behind Yoshii, tapping him on the shoulder. My wide eyes register beautiful pink hair and sky blue eyes, my Megurine Luka. Though she is physically smaller than him, I know that she will be able to beat him, for Luka will not let me down._

"_Please let go of my friend," Luka hisses coldly, her tone makes it clear that it is an __**order**__ she is giving, not a request. The bully looks down at her in surprise and tosses me aside, turning to face his new target._

"_Luka!" I cry out, worried for her safety. She looks at me briefly, assuring me with her beautiful eyes that it will not take her too long to dispose of this fool. Luka then turns her attention back to Yoshii, eyes blazing, daring him to make the first move._

_Like a dumb ox, he takes the bait and strikes out at her. Luka easily dodges him, running circles around him like a sprightly little pink kitten goading a larger animal to have a little game. Yoshii is turning red in the face as other kids gather to watch and laugh at him who is being bested by a girl. His blows become more blind and violent; Luka avoids every single one with the trained ease of an experienced fighter._

_She punches him in the stomach forcefully and suddenly, sending Yoshii flying back into the wall where he had cornered me. Luka continues to fall on him mercilessly, filling his fat body with bruises, until he slumps on the ground no longer able to stand._

"_If you ever touch my Miku again," she hisses, eyes burning like coals, "I will kill you." He yelps in fear and apologizes, trying to scurry away from the terrifying aura of my best friend. The other kids back away as well, leaving Luka and I alone in the playground._

"That was the day you got your nickname," I mumble, half to myself and half to Luka. She grins, she liked that nickname and it did deter many people from messing with me the moment they knew that Luka was my protector. Whatever they did to me, they had Luka to answer to, or as she was known then, "_Sakura kami akuma_", "Sakura-pink haired devil".

"I was glad I could protect you by reputation alone," Luka says with a smile, fondly remembering the old times we shared together as little balls of light energy that blazed through secret forest trails known only to us. I chuckle again; feeling much more relaxed with Luka by my side, working my way through a quarter of my sandwich.

Luka settles on the bed beside me and pulls me close to her, making a brilliant red blush suffuse my cheeks. Amused by my reactions, she laughs, stroking my head gently as I pretend to be completely absorbed in the sandwich in my hands. She mentions another childhood memory and once again, we wander down the warm alleys of memory lane.

_Hot days are the rarest things when you live on the top of a mountain, it snows here six months a year and the sunlight is watery at best for the next six. Temperatures rarely go over sixteen degrees, in fact, it has only done that once in my entire lifetime. I was five, Luka nine, when the cloud cover broke on a particularly dry day and allowed sunlight to pour over the little village. By noon, the whole town was an oven; everyone was baking to death in the summer heat. It was the first thirty degree day we had ever experienced, and though thirty was a common temperature to people living in tropical areas, it was way too hot for us villagers._

_Dressed in our 'pajamas' (Luka and I sleep in our underwear) and with a pair of cat ears on each of our heads, we are lounging on the living room floor of my house, the two of us cuddle together to enjoy the breeze provided by the fan. I am lying on my tummy on the carpet, a bowl of ice cream in my hands, and Luka's bowl is on my bare back, one of her arms hooked around my waist._

"_Atsui…" Luka whines, "Hot…" I echo her softly, savoring the coldness of her ice cream bowl on my back. I turn my head to savor how adorable Luka looks in pale pink cat ears, tugging on one playfully. Attached to her hair by clips, the cat ears feel slightly uncomfortable when pulled, and Luka makes a face at me. I tug it again, sticking out my tongue at her. Luka flicks her ice cream spoon at me, splattering ice cream across my back and shoulder blades, making me sigh in content at the cold. She leans over to gently lick the ice cream off my skin suddenly, surprising me with the warm feeling of her tongue over my sensitive back._

_Blushing, I protest furiously, "L-Luka, w-what are you d-doing?! It's dirty!"_

_She laughs, a beautiful and melodious sound that sets dozens of butterflies free in my tummy, "It's not dirty, not to me." Unable to think of anything else to say, I lie there and allow her to finish licking the ice cream off my bare skin._

_We polish off our ice cream quickly but are too hot and lazy to get up and get any more, rolling on the marble floor together trying to find a cold spot to lie on. Luka keeps tugging at my cat ears in revenge, putting on her cutest look as she begs me to get more ice cream for her. I refuse, puffing up my cheeks and shaking my head firmly, and she whines at me again. Rolling over and over together, I savor the sweet hot smell of Luka and me, knowing that I probably will not smell it again as it is unlikely that another hot day like this would ever appear. I am willing to endure another unbearably hot day if I will be able to enjoy this scent once more._

"_Miku…" she whines, pulling at my arm as she lies pinned under me, "Ice cream…"_

_I stick out my tongue at her, and she easily flips me over and pins me down, growling at me with mock ferocity. Mom enters the room and chuckles at how "cute" we look together, setting down another two bowls of ice cream for us. We both thank her cheerfully and fall on the cool food in delight, mom warns us not to get any of it on the floor or else we will be cleaning it up._

_Luka makes me lie down on my back again and sets a scoop of ice cream on my bare back, sending shivers up my spine, and she takes her time to lick the sweet snack off my skin with little contented kitty sounds that make me blush. I try to focus on finishing my own ice cream without spilling any, but I am too distracted by the soothing up and down motion of Luka's warm tongue on my now cold back. All I can think about is Luka, and I am drowning in how absolutely intoxicating she is._

_It was a beautiful, albeit unbearably hot, day, and I enjoyed myself immensely rolling around the marble floor with Luka. When it ended and the coolness of the night soothed our sweaty skin, I felt a little sad that our fun day had come to a close, but it was indeed a relief to have the town back to its normal, cold climate._

"That reminds me," Luka chuckles, "I have to make you wear cat ears again someday. You look absolutely adorable!" She squeals like a fan girl, probably imagining me in some kitty outfit, and I blush and call her name in protest. She laughs, making me giggle, and I realize that I have never had such a normal day before.

I want more days to be like today, or the later part of today any way. I want more days to be happy and safe and silly, just like my childhood or better than that. I want… to be free from the dark tendrils of my past.

**Luka's POV**

Remembering all those old memories brings fond smiles to my face, and even Miku's. Those days were the best days ever, and I hope that I will be able to create more fun memories with Miku in the coming days.

I shall pop by the local store and buy cat ears, the family who runs the store have been here for generations and they have absolutely anything and everything in that store, as long as you know how to ask for it. They even have lethal substances like potassium cyanide in store, but you have to be a very trustworthy regular customer to ever leave the Tomoyomi shop with products like that.

I used to buy snacks there all the time after school, and I bought Miku's birthday presents at the Tomoyomi shop for years. I remember one particular year when I bought a leek plush toy; everyone was staring at me weirdly as I carried it out of the shop. No one would expect a girl to prefer stuffed toy vegetables to dolls or puppies or kittens after all.

Miku hands me her half eaten sandwich with an apologetic smile, telling me she is unable to stomach any more, and I nod and keep it. "You can always finish it later, right?" I smile, "It is not like Hatsune Miku to let _leeks_ of all food go to waste."

Defensively, she retorts while blushing, "You'd do the same for tuna!" Raising both my hands as a sign of surrender I nod, "No denials there."

This is one of the best days of my life. Miku is willing to help me fix her no matter how hard it may be, and she has managed to overcome a flashback at last today. In the endless dark tunnel of the last six years of Miku's life, a light has finally appeared.

Miku yawns, and I encourage her to go to sleep. She will recover, I am sure of it, and I will be with her every single step of the way, even if it takes the rest of my life. I love her far too much to let her go, Miku is the girl of my dreams, and I have another promise I have to keep if she wants me to. I am going to marry her, and I am going to give her the good life she has been deprived of for so many years.

**[Outside]**

I head to the Tomoyomi shop in the watery light of evening, fortunate enough to not bump into any one of those annoying boys that I might just kill if I ever see them again. The shopkeeper is no longer old man Tomo; it is his daughter Darin and his youngest son, Daisuke. I knew them both when they were kids; Darin is a year older than me and Daisuke two years younger.

"Megurine Luka-san, is that you?" Darin asks disbelievingly, I nod with a faint smile and a 'long time no see'. Daisuke grins and happily welcomes an old regular, calling out his old man from the house attached to the back of the shop.

"Luka-chan, my, how you've grown!" the old man has changed considerably himself, his hair has turned white and is falling off, and he has gained weight. Gesturing to his waist, he says, "The last time I saw you, you were barely this tall, and now you're almost as tall as I am!"

I smile and rub the back of my head awkwardly, at 162cm tall, I am not exactly the tallest girl around, especially in comparison to most city girls that stand at 165 and above, or Yokune Ruko who was this height at the age of twelve. He does not have to make such a big deal about it…

"What can we help you with?" Darin asks as I scan the shelves, "As a regular, you can ask for anything, even dad's almost nonexistent hair." Daisuke snickers as the old man complains, I am glad to see that the closeness of the Tomoyomi family has not changed with time.

"Cat ears, preferably turquoise, please," I give up on finding them by myself and let Daisuke disappear into the maze of boxes and strange products to search for what I want. As he searches, I listen to the old man and Darin complain about the new boys who moved in from a village lower in the mountains, Kamui and Shion.

"Are they, by any chance, Kamui Gakupo and Shion Kaito?" I ask, wondering if I will be able to get any information out of them about what might have happened to my Miku, and Darin nods with a scowl on her pretty face. The old man asks if I had the curse of meeting either of the two yet, and I nod and say that I have met them both and would gladly dismember Kamui and choke Shion to death with his scarf if I could.

"Lives on a mountain all his life, the Shion brat, loves ice cream, and still needs a scarf in the summer," the old man says, "Strange boy. Rather rude, too." Darin agrees, pulling a face as she explains how the Shion boy tried to demand things only regular customers could get, like poisons and acids. Darin would never sell such products to a relatively new customer, let alone a child, and also was horrified by what he wanted to use the shop's products to do.

"I asked him what he wanted to do with half a liter of undiluted sulfuric acid," Darin says, "thinking that he might need to fix a car battery so I could call his daddy over for proof and get rid of him. And guess what the brat told me? Pour it down some girl's throat in school."

I pale the moment I hear the last sentence leave Darin's mouth; my heart nearly stops in my chest. That girl was most likely Miku… he would have killed her or muted her had the Tomoyomis not been so picky with their customers. Darin, noticing nothing, continues, "I thank the idiot for his honesty, but either way I would not have sold him undiluted acid."

"Did he…" my throat is dry, and I swallow a few times before I can continue, "Did he tell you which girl he wanted to do that to?"

Darin wrinkles her nose, "Some girl with green hair, he said, it was most probably Hatsune-chan. I would never let some new villager pour acid down an old acquaintance's throat." She suddenly looks at me with wide eyes, something clicking in her head, "Do you think Shion's got something to do with what happened to Hatsune-chan?"

I nod, gravely, "Kamui too." Upon hearing that, both Darin and the old man go ballistic, swearing that they will dismember both boys and pour sulfuric acid down their throats if there is any proof at all that they did cause Miku's mental breakdown.

Daisuke emerges from the back of the shop with the cat ears in a plastic bag and looks shocked to see his family so worked up. I pay him for them and thank them all for their service, and for rejecting Shion's attempts to buy acid from them no matter how much he paid them. They have saved Miku's life, and her beautiful voice, and I owe them for it.

**[Back in the hospital]**

I clip the cat ears to Miku's hair, the turquoise matches perfectly and the furry appendages look as if they were naturally supposed to be there. I stroke her head as she sleeps, savoring her sweet sounds of contentment, wondering what kind of hell she has gone through while I was gone.

To be cruel enough to want to buy half a liter of _**undiluted sulfuric acid**_ to _**pour down Miku's throat**_… What else could they have done to her? What could they have not done to her? I highly doubt that any kind of cruelty is beneath Shion after what I have heard about him today. I wonder, is Kamui a minion of his? And if the Kagamine who hurt Miku did worse, what in the world could he or she have possibly done…?


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Sorry for the long wait, I've had exams to deal with and am in a huge emotional slump at the moment, you know, suicidal and unstable and all that stuff. I hope this chapter will be worth the wait.**

**To Dummy Perception, I'm sorry that it seems slow to you, but everything is planned out so don't you worry, things will unfold with time…**

**To sgtranglin, I would go after that café owner too if he were real, and give him a lecture on why homosexual love is real love too. The butt-kicking begins here, so I hope you will enjoy it!**

**To LepainChu 18, thanks for the review! I am glad you enjoyed the story, and I hope this will be a satisfactory read for you!**

**To Yuzu-kun, thank you! Well, things will unfold in the later chapters and I assure you that there is at least one of the Vocaloids you mentioned you want to kill who does not deserve it.**

**To Truna, thanks~ I am so glad you like this! Good that you puked unicorns, the world needs more of them fluffy tailed one horned horse things. :D**

**Haruka**

_Previous chapter:_

_To be cruel enough to want to buy half a liter of __**undiluted sulfuric acid**__ to __**pour down Miku's throat…**__ What else could they have done to her? What could they have not done to her? I highly doubt that any kind of cruelty is beneath Shion after what I have heard about him today. I wonder, is Kamui a minion of his? And if the Kagamine who hurt Miku did worse, what in the world could he or she have possibly done…?_

Luka's POV

While Miku slept, I went out again to get something to eat. Surviving on sandwiches and canned tuna isn't the healthiest of diets, and though I enjoy it I know that I have to get some greens and proteins into my body. Luki has gone back to the city with dad, but mom is still staying for a while longer, and she is nagging at me about my diet more than my conscience is.

"Luka, lunch is ready!" I roll out of my bed and pad down the stairs to the dining room, feeling rather guilty that I am still making mom cook for me. However, I am not the world's best cook and I refuse to cook anything but seafood, thus mom refuses to trust me to regulate my own diet. Good call, mom, good call.

The two of us settle down to the meal with a cheery "_Itadakimasu!_" Mom is smart, as always, she has already split all the different dishes into two portions so I have no choice but to take the greens instead of pigging out on the tuna and octopus. I make a face, which makes her laugh; and we dig in. She asks me about Miku's wellbeing and I tell her honestly that though my sweetie is getting better, I highly doubt that we will get anywhere soon.

"Take your time and remember not to rush her, Luka," Mom says as she slaps my hand away from her half of the seafood, "Healing is a slow process, but I am sure it will be worth it when we see more of the old Miku-chan again. You two will be running around in the woods and driving your parents up the wall like old times." She chuckles, remembering all the times she yelled at us for nearly getting caught by wolves or bears while we were playing in the forest.

I sigh and reluctantly tackle the vegetables as I reply, "I'm willing to stay by her side, no matter how long it takes." Mom raises an eyebrow and says, "It sounds like someone's childhood crush hasn't faded." She says it teasingly, which both irks me and confuses me. If one's eighteen year old daughter shows signs of being in love with a fourteen year old girl, won't a typical parent be disgusted or concerned?

"When you were eight, you always told me about how you'd marry her someday, don't you remember?" Mom smiles, spotting the look on my face, "I don't mind at all, Luka, and nor does your dad or Luki. Love is love, no matter what form it comes in." She chuckles at my shocked face, advising me to close my mouth before a fly buzzes in. "We'll throw you a grand wedding perfect for such beautiful girls!" A dreamy look appears on mom's face, which makes me blush a deep crimson.

My family approves… even though my words back then could have been the silly, whimsical words of an eight year old, they still took me seriously and found that they could and would accept me even if I really turn out to be a lesbian. My eyes start to water, my family has stayed by me through thick and thin and has been through a lot due to Luki's mental breakdown, and this is no exception. If I want to marry Hatsune Miku, a _girl_, they would happily spring for the festivities. I should have known… The Megurine family is much too close-knit to be affected by things like sexuality.

"I love you guys," I croak, trying not to cry, and mom smiles at me gently. "We love you too, Luka. All of us." That was it, screw self-control; I cried.

**[After Lunch]**

"Mom, I'm heading out again! See you tomorrow!" I shoulder a fresh bag of clothes and leeks, looking over my shoulder as I prepare myself to head back to the mental hospital.

"Bye, sweetie, take care! Say hello to my future daughter-in-law for me!" Mom can tease me the way Lily can, she really knows how to ruffle my feathers and turn my cheeks the same delicate shade of pink as my hair. "Mom!" She just chuckles in amusement while I escape the house as quickly as I can.

I walk by the Kagamine household on my way to the mental hospital, and once again I peer inside. All I see is that girly boy playing with a kitten, cooing at it and baby talking to it. I am firmly convinced this boy is not the Kagamine who hurt Miku; he is much too gentle and sweet for that. He is not even allowing the fluffy kitten to attempt to harm a butterfly.

Kittens and butterflies… they awaken a sleeping memory deep within me… _"Luka!" Miku is tearing after me with an expression of mock anger on her adorable face. I have stolen both her rubber bands and replaced them with ones with cat ears on them, and she is not too happy about it. She had to go to school with those cute cat ears on her head and she got laughed at by a few people (which I dealt with after school in dark corners). I continue to run towards where my surprise is hidden, the best birthday present I have managed to find for Miku._

_I race up the gravel pathway and swing into the backyard of my house quickly, tumbling on the grass next to a cardboard box with holes in the lid where my gift is waiting. Miku arrives shortly after me, red faced and on the verge of tears, and I instantly feel terrible. I made Miku cry… that is the worst nightmare I could ever have._

_I wrap my arms around her and apologize immediately; Miku hits my chest feebly and chokes out, "You're the worst, Megurine Luka…!" She starts to sob, and I remember how sensitive my dear, sweet Miku is. She cannot stand getting laughed at, it makes her feel bad about herself and she has a really low self-esteem. I pat her head gently and apologize again, flopping down next to the box and pulling Miku with me. She is blushing now, on top of me in a rather awkward position, and before she can start scolding me while impersonating a tomato, the gift in the box lets out a squeak._

_Miku's eyes widen, and I grin triumphantly, "Happy birthday, Miku." Curiously, she asks me what it is as she struggles with the ribbon, and I stick out my tongue and tell her to wait and see. She pouts but not for long, having finally wrestled the ribbon off the box. She opens the lid, peers inside and then cries out in delight, "A kitten!"_

_She scoops up the sleepy-eyed bundle of white fluff, cradling it to her with a warm smile. "Thank you so much, Luka!" The kitten nuzzles into her and purrs, it likes her, and I am not surprised. It is difficult to dislike Hatsune Miku unless you are jealous of her, and animals do not get jealous._

_She sets the kitten down on the grass and we watch it tumble around, smiling warmly at the adorable fluff-ball's antics. Just then, a yellow butterfly flits past, and the entranced kitten stares at it in wonderment. Kitten and butterfly begin a strange dance of some sort, the captivated little ball of white fluff following the beautiful butterfly's graceful movements in a clumsy, stumbling manner. The kitten does not try to reach up to bat at the butterfly but instead simply follows it, until it runs into the cardboard box face first._

_Miku and I crack up, entertained, and Miku says suddenly, "I know, we'll call her Magnet!" Reminded of the beautiful song, I remember that the lyrics did indeed mention a butterfly, fluttering chaotically, entranced by forbidden love. This little bundle of fluff is currently entranced by a butterfly, stumbling chaotically after it, a parallel to the song. I nod enthusiastically, approving of the name choice. That little fluffy kitten christened Magnet became the source of much entertainment for the two of us, until she was killed by wolves a few years later._

_I wondered back then if it was a sign that forbidden love between two girls, like the one the song Magnet spoke of, was meant to die painfully, snuffed out by exterior forces stronger than the love that bound them. Did the cat Magnet's death signify that my love for Miku would be challenged by society, by the very world I knew?_

_So be it, I thought, bring it on, world. Give me your best shot. I will not let you destroy my feelings for Miku easily; they will not go down without a fight._

That was a full eight years ago, if I remember correctly, and my love for Miku has burned stronger than ever before. Society had tried to snuff it out, school sexuality educations always told us that we had to be attracted to the opposite sex, that homosexuality was "gross, immoral, unnatural and just plain wrong", but I never once despised my feelings for Miku nor felt repulsed by them. I love a girl, I accepted that the day I heard Magnet for the first time in that café, and I know that love is beautiful because Magnet was beautiful. I repeated the lyrics to myself alone in the shower or in my bedroom at night, telling myself that no matter what the world thought about it, my feelings for Miku were real, they were amazing, and they were not disgusting in any way. They were tragic, yes, but not the least bit disgusting.

When I near the hospital, I am alerted to a presence that has been following me almost the entire way. I catch the flash of purple hair, Kamui Gakupo, and I snarl out his name angrily. He appears wearing a cheeky grin, "Fancy running in to you here, pretty lady." Is he seriously doing this? I am a good two years older than him, at the very least, and he should show respect to his elders. Don't they emphasize on that in school?

"Save it, kid, I know you stalked me," I growl, sky blue eyes smoldering with barely restrained anger and hatred. He still looks cocky, shrugging off my response and asking me what I am doing outside a mental hospital. I refuse to tell him, not wanting him to know that I am visiting Miku, pushing him out of my way so I can enter the hospital. I warn him not to follow, my eyes smoldering like the hottest cinder in Hell. He stays outside, hopefully having recognized the signs that I absolutely loathe his guts, and I head to Miku's room while trying to cool down.

I did not know that Kamui followed after me a few minutes later, tailing me from a distance and pretending to be here with me on a visit. When I opened the door to Miku's room, I found out, as the annoying bastard barged in before me and stalked over to my trembling sweetheart, snarling, "Found you, runt. Did you think you could get away?"

Miku's response was to shriek, a pained and frightened cry akin to the shrieks of wounded horses on the battlefield, pained cries that tore into the soul and curdled the blood. He grabs Miku by the wrist and she wrenched herself from him, flattening herself into the wall and trembling like a leaf in a whirlwind. I try to control my temper and ask him to leave somewhat civilly, but before I can get a reign on my inner devil, the purple haired bastard kicks Miku.

He kicked my Miku. He _kicked_ my Miku. He. Kicked. My. Miku.

That did it; I fly at the Kamui brat and fling him to the other side of the room. I stride over before he can recover, grab him by the collar and smash his face into the wall. He tries to put up a fight but is no match for me, I have never been this furious in my life and the pink haired devil is completely free from her restraints, boiling with anger. I dodge his weak uppercut and give him a roundhouse kick to the stomach, sending him flying again. Before he can get up I am at him again, kicking him in the face, chest and stomach. I hit him, kick him, throw him around and smash him into the wall until he is a bloody, bruised mess begging for mercy, having completely gone on a rampage. I grab the fool's long purple ponytail to prevent him from escaping and kick and punch him, sending him flying away from me until his hair runs out and he stops, rebounding back, somewhat like a paddleball. His hair tears off in places, some in bloody clumps, but I cannot care less about how hurt he is becoming from my vengeance. He pleads for mercy and swears blind that he will never dare to even look at Miku again, and I kick him out the door and yell at him to leave, to get out of my sight and pray he never sees me again.

"If I ever set eyes on your pathetic hide again, _I'll kill you!_" I roar after him, slamming the door on his fleeing ass. I turn to my frightened Miku and gather her in my arms; assuring her everything is alright, singing Magnet to her in an attempt to calm her down.

I have nearly sung myself hoarse by the time my sweetheart calms down again, and I have a whole lot of questions to ask her about Kamui's involvement in her torture for the past six years I was gone. However, I know it is much too fresh for her to talk about right now, and I cannot push her for I will only make things worse. I shall bring up some peaceful past memories to calm her first, and then see if she is ready to tell me what has happened to her.

"Luka…" she croaks, her voice hoarse from all her crying and screaming, "Tell me…something nice…"

Understanding, I dig through the archives of sweet childhood memories for something to reminisce with her about. Stroking her head, I gently rub the velvety cat ears between my fingers as I begin…

_For the last three weeks, I have been on a holiday in Tokyo with my family, and I have missed Miku unbearably. Every single day in Tokyo, I pestered my parents with "When are we going home? I want to see Miku again!" and the only way they could get me to shut up was to give me some money to buy Miku a gift at a store we were in or a store near the hotel._

_At the end of those three weeks, I have an entire luggage of gifts for Miku, sweets, stuffed toys, hairbrushes, new rubber bands for her hair in different colors and shapes, books, little souvenirs like key chains of the Tokyo tower… Every single yen I was given for the trip all went into buying Miku something for when I got back._

_Now, I am standing at the Hatsune's door with the bag full of Miku's gifts in my hand, nervously ringing the doorbell. To a nine year old, three weeks is an immeasurable period of time that feels more like an eternity, especially when they are three weeks away from the apple of my eye. Miku opens the door and just stares at me, as if she cannot believe I am back. Before I can say anything, she throws her arms around me and says in a shaky voice, "I missed you so much, Luka!"_

"_Already on the verge of tears, eh, Miku? That's just like you," I tease, and she mutters a slightly moody 'shut up' into my chest. I laugh, my Miku is such a tsundere sometimes, and I pat her head gently. "I missed you too." Before she can start crying on me, I tell her I have plenty of things to show her and many stories to tell her, which cheers her right up again. Miku says she loves to hear my voice, and she loves to hear my stories even more._

_We troop into her bedroom and huddle together on the bed, and I hand the entire bag to her to let her slowly sort through her presents. Mom is talking to Miku's mother outside; I can hear her telling Miku's mother with a laugh, "That girl bought your daughter a present more than twice a day. She couldn't stop thinking of Miku-chan!" Her mother responds with, "Miku couldn't stop asking us when Luka-chan would be back. I don't think it is wise to ever separate them for so long again."_

_While I listened to our parents conversing, Miku was slowly emptying the bag in wide eyed wonder, unable to believe the amount of gifts I brought for her. The leek shaped light stick is a hit, as I expected, she is waving it around with a huge smile on her face and thanking me repeatedly. She cannot believe the amount of things I have bought for her from Tokyo, and can barely fit it all on her single bed. Stuffed toys, key chains, packets of sweets and other snacks overflow to the ground, and she keeps bending down to pick them up._

_Together, we sort out my gifts into piles based on what they are, and I am surprised myself at the amount of things I have bought for her. "You really shouldn't have bought anything at all, Luka," she says repeatedly, "the best present in the world is having you back here again." I spend the entire day with flushed cheeks, telling her stories about my trip as we munch on the food I bought for Miku together. She is amazed by my descriptions of the skyscrapers in Tokyo, for the tallest building in this town is the mental hospital at five stories._

Miku has calmed down and is laughing along with me, remembering the sheer amount of gifts I had bought her. It was no exaggeration that I filled an entire luggage with those gifts; I had probably spent a year's worth of pocket money on Miku in that trip alone. "I still have that light stick," Miku says with a nostalgic smile, "It's in my bedroom, on the nightstand, if I remember correctly." I chuckle, expecting that the leek light stick would be the most well-loved and maintained of all my gifts to her. It is a glowing leek, what's not to like when you are absolutely in love with the vegetable?

I grin widely and ask her about the fate of some of the other gifts I can remember. One of them is a customized plush toy with my face on it in _chibi_ form, with my hair serving as tentacles. Miku and I took to calling it '_tako Luka_' because it is based partially on me and partially on one of my favorite foods, _takoyaki_. They have very good _takoyaki_ in Tokyo, with tuna flakes on top that make it even more delicious. I probably contributed to the mass murder of octopi and tuna significantly within those three weeks alone.

"_Tako Luka_ is in my bag somewhere," she says with a fond smile, gesturing to under her bed, "Dad brought some of my favorite things shortly after I…" She trails off, obviously not wanting to talk about it, and I do not press her. I simply get on my knees and reach under the bed to produce a rather dusty black backpack, which I unzip to reveal a rather dirty but none the worse for wear _Tako Luka_. I brush off the dust and say, "I'm glad you still remember her."

"How could I ever forget? She's half you, remember?" Miku responds cheerfully, grabbing the plush toy from me and hugging it to her. She is quick to forget bad things, probably shoving them away forcefully because she has not the strength to deal with them.

However, I do not want to let her shove it away this time. I want to know what has happened to her over the past six years when I was in the city. How should I tell her this…? I watch her hug _Tako Luka_ with a blissful and childish smile on her face and decide to cheer her up more before I bring up the subject again, reminding her of the time she brought _Tako Luka_ to school and got us both teased about it for a week or so.

"People thought we were dating," Miku reminisces with a smile, blushing slightly, "We had a few lectures, didn't we?"

"Goddess, we did indeed," I grin, remembering the first lecture myself…

"_Are the two of you together?" the Principal asks suspiciously, looking at the two of us coldly. Miku just hugs Tako Luka to her chest and refuses to say a word, so I deny it for the both of us. "Just childhood friends, sir," I growl, I dislike the Principal; he always scolded me for beating up the kids who tried to hurt Miku. Goddess knows the amount of detentions this man has given me for fighting and beating people up._

"_Homosexuality is a sin, do you know that?" I want to lie to him and give him the answer he wants so he will let us go, but Miku explodes. "It's not! It is all because of people like you that homosexuals have to suffer and live in pain! Judging people as if you are god is the real sin here!" The Principal and I are both equally shocked by Miku's outburst, but I approve of her bravery and honesty and I agree with her every word, while the Principal is muttering something to keep away the 'Devils of pollution'. I resist the urge to whack the balding old man, snarling a profanity under my breath at him._

"_A girl loving another girl is beautiful," I chip in to help Miku, speaking my honest opinion at last, "Love is love no matter what form it comes in, and it will not be stopped by balding old men like you!" Miku giggles, looking at me gratefully for my support, and the Principal's jaw has dropped. He looks like a fish, it sends both Miku and I into little giggling fits. His face is turning purple, I think he might die or something, not that I would care._

_He takes a breath and his face color returns to normal (what a pity), and he tells us to leave his office immediately. "I have no place for dykes in this office!" he shouts, and I tell him, "I have no time for ugly old men like you!" I think he might call my parents again, but it is no threat to me. My parents are on my side, and Miku's on hers, and they have never liked the Principal who only tries to stop me from protecting Miku instead of stopping the bullies from picking on her._

"I'll never forget the look on his face," I chuckle with amusement, "He was utterly shocked!" Miku nods with a grin of her own, looking much more relaxed than before. She tells me the Principal died of a heart attack shortly after I left to the city, because he discovered two girls making out in the gym after school and went ballistic.

"You'd expect a man to enjoy a good girl on girl show," I remark, and Miku looks at me disapprovingly, "Eww. That's disgusting." I shrug and tell her that men are like that, naturally attracted to girls getting it on because it is hot to them. "What they don't know is that they're losing hot and cute girls to other girls."

Miku chuckles, she agrees with me. Stroking _Tako Luka_'s head absently, my turquoise haired angel is definitely much better than before. I think I can ask her my question now, at the risk of prompting a flashback or meltdown.

"Miku," I say hesitantly, drawing a confused tilt of the eyebrows from her, "Can you tell me what happened to you while I was gone?"

Miku snaps upright, turquoise pupils shrunk to slits, and she starts to tremble. Before I can apologize, she tells me, "Alright, Luka, I will." She clutches the toy to her tightly and takes a deep breath, readying herself to tell me what I am rather frightened to hear.

**A/N: A little cliffhanger here for all you awesome readers! :P Sorry for the long wait, though I cannot promise that I will never make you guys wait this long again. I will try to update my other stories first before I get started on the next chapter, so please be patient with me!**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Here comes what you've all been waiting for (I hope). Ten is my favorite number (random useless information HAHA) Please be warned that this chapter can be a little disturbing (maybe a little more than usual for my work), so prepare yourselves. And I mean **_**prepare yourselves.**_

**To Negitoro, you're right, O levels this year and I'll have to put a lot of things on hold after July (including cosplay and probably Fanfiction…) I hope you will be patient with me!**

**To Beiowulf, I ended it there because I wanted to be mean :P At least I updated fast :)**

**To Yuzu-kun, thanks for the support! I will try my best to write as fast as possible, this story is ending soon and I might be able to rush it before July… actually, most probably not… I'll try my best!**

**To Dummy Perception, I agree with you that Gakupo deserved that butt kicking from Luka! In fact, he deserved much, much _worse._ I hope this chapter is worth the pain of the cliffhanger!**

**To Hayato Kazuya, I am honored that the way I write is able to give insight to others. Thank you for reviewing! I liked Gakupo's beating, but personally feel he deserves much worse. I'm sure you will agree.**

**To yurifans21, sorry, but I have no plans for Luka to kick any more butts. She is angry enough to **_**kill**_** right now, so…**

**To Cosmo Kyrin, this is going to be a lot more painful than Gakupo's beating, so… steel yourself.**

**Haruka**

_Previous Chapter:_

_Luka's POV_

_Miku snaps upright, turquoise pupils shrunk to slits, and she starts to tremble. Before I can apologize, she tells me, "Alright, Luka, I will." She clutches the toy to her tightly and takes a deep breath, readying herself to tell me what I am rather frightened to hear._

Miku's POV

"After you left… Kamui Gakupo moved in to your house…" I take a shaky breath as I remember the first day that monster walked into my life. He had seemed nice and polite, regal and gentlemanly, but that was all just for show. "Because I was shy and small, he started to pick on me, calling me names. It was only verbal abuse at first, and so I took it quietly…"

The first day he physically bullied me was the day my nightmare begun. It was a few months after he moved in, he was pretty popular because he was supposedly good looking, and people liked him. No one cared what he did to me; they never liked me and used to call me the pink-haired devil's puppy in the past. The pink haired devil's disappearance that March was something that they had celebrated, Luka had a very bad sociopathic streak and her world revolved around me, so no one liked neither her nor her only friend. Hence, no one bothered to stand up for me, well, no one but Akita Neru.

"_Whatcha gonna do about it, midget?" Kamui sneers as he backs me into a corner, cracking his knuckles. I just gulp and back away, he is older and bigger than I am and I cannot even fight off a cat, which pretty much means I'm doomed. Why in the world did I snap at him and tell him to leave me alone? I brought this upon myself…_

_I stumble over backpacks cruelly nudged in my way, looking up pleadingly at cold-eyed classmates, many who do not even deign themselves to look at me. Kamui's sickening grin widens when he sees that no one is going to bother, it seems that him constantly reminding everyone that I am the pink-haired devil's puppy did have its perks for him in the end. My desperate S.O.S is ignored, melting away in the small space between me and every classmate I pass by; why are they just sitting there and letting this happen?_

_His first punch lands squarely on my stomach, the pain makes my ears ring and I can hardly breathe; I just crumple to the ground weakly and cry out sharply. He grabs me by the collar and pulls me up again; I yelp and close my eyes just as his second blow lands. I cry out in pain and terror, trying to wrench myself from his grip, but he is too strong. I am at his mercy, and from first-hand experience I know he has none. I hear a few snickers around me, someone who is not Kamui sneers, "Where's your master now, puppy?" I just whimper._

_Before Kamui can attack again, something happens that makes him release me suddenly. I crumple to the ground with a pathetic whine and open my eyes to see a small blonde with a high side ponytail who has Kamui by the throat and up against the wall at the other end of the room. The purple haired boy is shocked, unable to believe a small girl like her could possess so much strength, and can only stare blankly at his attacker's slanted golden eyes._

"_Hands off her, Kamui," she snarls warningly, "Or your hands are going to really come off. Got it?"_

_Kamui raises his hands in a bored surrender, pretending not to be afraid, but all of us can see his legs shaking. The blonde with the golden eyes is Akita Neru, four-time national judo champion, kickboxing expert, karate black belt since the age of seven and an all-round fighter rumored to be the only one who can stand as an equal against the pink-haired devil. Even a new villager like Kamui knows that, he will not mess with her unnecessarily. He retreats out of the classroom as she walks toward me, muttering about strange midgets under his breath. The other kids just watch, the blonde looks ready to murder them too, but she seems to think twice about it._

"_Are you alright, Hatsune-chan?" Akita-chan offers a hand to me, which I shakily take. I try to nod and look strong, but my terror shows plainly on my pale, tear-streaked face. A gentle smile crosses her features and she assures me, "Don't worry, I'll stand in for Megurine-chan and keep you safe until she comes back." I thank her in a trembling voice; she just tilts her head to one side and grins at me. I have honestly never thought of Akita-chan as the kind type, she has never liked people very much…_

Luka is smiling a little, obviously happy that Akita-chan actually stood up for me while she was gone. Luka had attempted to befriend Akita-chan in the past when we were really little; they were both antisocial and somehow managed to click pretty well. She apologizes that her reputation ended up hurting me when she was gone; I assure her that it is alright because I wouldn't have liked making new friends anyway. "It would feel like I was trying to replace you," I say sincerely, "And no one in the world ever can do that." Luka turns a delicate shade of pink at that; it makes her look very cute.

"What happened to Akita-chan?" she asks, turning her face away to hide her blush, having noticed that the Akita family no longer lives in the village. In a shaky voice I reply, "She moved away four months after you did…" My pink haired angel prepares herself for more bad news with a deep breath as I ready myself to unearth the next box of memories.

After Akita-chan left, I had absolutely no friends left, thus I was bullied by Kamui again, even worse than before. Kamui called Akita-chan names she did not deserve, saying she was one of the pink-haired devil's dogs, and Kamui also said anyone who associated themselves with me would be one too. Since my schoolmates looked up to him and loathed Luka's guts, the entire student body agreed with him and isolated me completely.

I had no friends for a painfully long time, Kamui's abuse of me grew worse and constant, and I limped back and forth to school every day just to have him add fresh bruises and scrapes to my small, weak body. I dreaded every moment of my life, I longed to die, but Luka's promise to return kept me going. The colors in my life faded to monochrome, all but the beautiful color _pink._ Luka was all I had left to cling on to, I felt that my pointless existence would be worth it if I could see her again.

"Then… Shion moved in to the Akita house…" Luka tenses upon hearing this, knowing that whatever is coming next will not be pretty. I do not want to tell her this, I do not want to be the one who makes Luka have a sad face, but I have to tell her because she wants to and deserves to know.

Shion came from the same town as Kamui, and Shion had always been a dog of the purple haired boy's since he was a child, always following his orders without question, which made him slightly like me. He followed Kamui more blindly than I had followed Luka, though, for I never approved of Luka's harming of people while he supported Kamui's cruel abuse of others. It was not long before the blue haired boy joined in to abuse me at every given opportunity, excluding me socially and verbally and physically bullying me at Kamui's command. The mere sight of his blue scarf at the edge of my vision was enough to send me into a terrible meltdown, and I could not stand the colors blue or purple. My sanity was starting to evade me, bit by bit, as the tortures continued. There were days where I could barely walk and days where I was too wounded to crawl to school, I told my worried parents that I had accidentally fallen down the stairs on the way home (they were a steep flight cut into the face of the mountain), and they believed me. What really happened, though, was definitely no accident…

"_Kaito, grab the midget," Kamui orders before I can flee the classroom and get home to safety. Shion easily grabs me and overpowers me, dragging me to his master. He tosses me at Kamui's feet where I lie; helpless and terrified, trembling like a leaf. The classroom is mostly empty, some people are left packing their bags and doing their own things, but I know I cannot rely on them for help. They will just ignore me, continue doing what they were doing or scuttle out of class, leaving me to suffer under these boys' hands…_

_Kamui takes out a pair of shiny brass knuckles; the way the light reflected off them in that sunny elementary school classroom will forever be ingrained in my memory. My mouth has become dry and fear pounds through every inch of my being, I crawl backward trying to escape him, eyes fixed on the weapon. Shion kicks me in the back before I get very far, saying smoothly, "Come on, midget, it's just a little game. What's there to be afraid of?"_

_A 'game', he says? Well, I am not interested in any games; I have plenty of homework to do so I cannot stay to play… Kamui has put on the brass knuckles and is approaching me with a sadistic grin on his face, he looks to me like the devil reincarnated. The look in his purple eyes is absolute __**insanity**__;_ _he has not a trace of humanity within him. Frozen with fear, I stare helplessly up at him as the first punch is delivered to my ribs._

_Pain sears through my entire being as he continues raining the blows upon me, I can hear the sound of the metal against my flesh, pain explodes in my mind with the intensity of fireworks but none of the beauty. I cry out again and again, tears running down my cheeks as I beg for mercy, but neither boy reacts to my cries in any way. In fact, my cries seem to egg them on, for Kamui is striking at me more enthusiastically now, sending lightning bolts of agony through my entire being._

_Bruises flower over my skin but he still does not stop, striking every part of my body that he can. The pain is unbearable, it is driving me insane, my eyes can see nothing but blank whiteness with each wave of intense agony that sears through me. Sobbing, I helplessly beg for mercy, unable to move my weak body to escape from his relentless attacks. It hurts, it hurts, my mind has been completely enslaved by the pain and fear…_

_When he finally backs off, I am lying on the ground on the verge of unconsciousness, unable to move a muscle but fully aware of the pain that burns through my body and pierces through my soul. Sneering, Kamui asks, "Had fun, midget?" I do not even have the strength to whimper in fear at the sound of his voice; lying in my own tears wishing I were dead, I pray to Amaterasu that my sweet Luka will return soon, that someone, anyone, will save me from this torturous existence…_

Luka has gone pale, her fists are clenched and her body is shaking. "I can't believe those bastards did that to you!" Her pale blue eyes are livid; it is obvious that she does not think the beating Kamui received from her earlier on was enough. Remembering all these terrible things makes me feel sick, the shadows are straining at the edge of my vision, wanting to fill my world and consume my sanity in another 'episode', but I try my best to restrain myself. Noticing my struggle, Luka leans closer to me and presses her warm body to mine, kissing my forehead softly. That simple, tender action takes the shadows away, and I relax in her arms once more. She tells me not to push myself, that I can take my time, that she is not pressurizing me and she wants more than anything for me to feel alright. I gather strength from her voice, her scent, her very presence, calming myself down. Taking a deep breath, I continue my recollection from within the safety of Luka's arms, "The rest of the year I spent that way, lonely and tortured, growing steadily depressed and unstable…"

In the beginning of the next year, the Megpoid family moved in, bringing with them a sweet and kind green haired girl named Megpoid Gumi. She was bright as the Sun was bright, cheerful and always glowing, and all the boys were attracted to her, even Kamui. It was a relief for me as he was more preoccupied with competing for Gumi-san's attention than he was with abusing me, and I managed a small breathing space where life seemed a little better. "I thought that things were finally looking up for me," I admit, my tone warns Luka that there is still worse to come.

Gumi-san took a liking to me, saying I was sweet and puppy-like and adorable, and we became friends pretty quickly. I was socially awkward and always formal with her, keeping a certain distance from her because the only one I let in my heart was Luka and I never wanted that to change. She accepted that, knowing that Luka and I were childhood friends, and she had no prejudice against my sweet Luka because she only believed in what she saw, not what people told her. Gumi-san said the pink-haired devil must have had her reasons to act the way she did, and hence she never thought badly about Luka or me. I was happier then, I had a friend and Kamui was no longer making my life a living Hell. It felt as if Amaterasu had really answered my prayers, I should have known it was too good to be true. My happiness and relief all went down the drain the day Kamui confessed…

"_You lousy little snitch!" the furious purple haired boy flies into my classroom, eyes burning with hatred as he makes a beeline for me as a few of the other students scatter out the door, "You told Gumi-san I was bullying you, huh?! I'll show you bullying!"_

_Confused, I barely have the time to yelp, "I didn't!" before he is on me, one hand wrapped around my throat and the other grabbing me by my hair. He tosses me to the other end of the room; I slam against the wall with enough force to drive the air from my lungs and slump, dazed, to the ground. Kamui storms over and grabs me by the collar, lifting me off the ground completely. Some of the remaining students look my way, they have amused expressions on their faces, it makes my blood run cold._

"_Because you called me a bully, Gumi-san rejected me!" he explodes angrily, his eyes glaring daggers into my weak body. Before I can say or do a thing, he has ordered Shion to come over and to hand over his scarf. Wide-eyed and helpless, I can only watch as he tests the blue cloth experimentally in his free hand, grinning cruelly and announcing, "This'll do nicely. Grab her, Kaito."_

_Shion obeys, grabbing me as soon as Kamui releases me, forcing me on my knees before them. Sobbing, I tremble like a wounded puppy before them, terrified of what they will do to me. A flash of blue fills my vision, and a crushing pressure wraps around my neck._

_I can't breathe… Shion's scarf is around my neck, choking me, I can't take it off, they will not allow me… My head is swimming; I am desperately clawing at the cloth, my heart is racing… I'm scared, I'm scared; am I going to die? I can't breathe… Help me, someone… No, don't look away; don't pretend you can't see… Help me…! Please, look at me… I am right here… Help me…!_

_My vision is getting dark; my body is growing weaker, I can't fight anymore, not that it helped in the least bit. Am I going to die now…? It's strange; I don't feel so scared any more…_

_Shion yanks the scarf away just as I am about to black out and they lean back to watch me in amusement. I collapse on the ground retching heavily, struggling to take air into my starved lungs. Trembling and sobbing, I am helpless before them, and Kamui steps on the back of my head to force me face first into my own vomit. I cannot struggle; my oxygen starved muscles are too weak… "That'll teach you to snitch, piece of shit!" Kamui snarls with a sadistic note of triumph in his voice. I whimper helplessly, knowing that my torture has not yet ended._

_Before he can do anything else, Gumi-san enters the classroom, and her hand flies to her mouth in shock. Then, the normally sunny Gumi-san's eyes turn livid, almost as frightening as Akita-chan's animal-like golden eyes, and she explodes, "You lousy a**hole!" Kamui, shocked, raises his hands and says, "Gumi, baby, I can ex-"_

"_Don't you dare call me by my given name, nor call me 'baby'! I __**rejected **__you, you pathetic excuse for a man!" Gumi-san's words are sharper than any sword, I can see Kamui's face fall instantly. Oddly, my heart swells with pity for my tormentor, to hear such painful words from the girl he loves… even a swine like Kamui does not deserve that, right? "I thought you were just excluding Hatsune-chan, to think that you were actually bullying her like this… You are lower than trash, Kamui Gakupo!" The class watches with interest, snickering amongst themselves as they enjoy this drama._

_Kamui cringes, his eyes filling with a mixture of pain and anger, and he shouts, "This kid's lower than trash, why do you even care about her? Her hair is an unnatural color too! She's weird!"_

_Sharply, Gumi-san retorts, "In case you didn't notice, Kamui, you and your dog have an unnatural hair color." Oh yeah… Shion's is blue, Kamui's purple… Also, Gumi-san's green and mine turquoise; none of our hair colors would be one anyone would consider natural…_

_Kamui groans, as if he is right and he simply could not convince a blind fool that his way leads to salvation, "This girl is a worthless, spineless shit no one likes! She's the pet of the scourge of the village, the pink-haired devil! Why care?" Gumi-san retorts, "Neither you, Shion nor I have ever seen the pink-haired devil, so who are you to judge her?"_

_Kamui snorts, gesturing to the rest of the class, saying that many of them are Luka's victims and can testify on how terrifying she is. However, he failed to say that each and every one of them that Luka beat up had bullied me or said bad things about me. That is the only thing in the world one can do to earn the wrath of the pink-haired devil: hurt me in any little way. Luka would never beat someone up for no reason!_

"_This kid was a bully's dog! Why do you care about her?" Kamui asks, trying to convince Gumi-san to take his side. It is futile, Gumi-san is a girl who is not easily led, independent and sort of a rebel, she will not be swayed by his words. Gumi-san shouts, extremely angry now, "Because she's adorable, sweet, kind, and I'm a freaking dyke who loves her!"_

_Everyone in the room is taken aback, shocked, and Kamui's jaw drops, "You're a lesbian? Oh God, yuck! I'm telling your father!" That threat sends all the color draining from Gumi-san's face, "Don't you dare, Kamui!" The purple haired boy has already run off, Shion in tow, the boy's dirty scarf lying by me. The rest of the class takes one look at Gumi-san and runs off as well, disgusted. I hear some of them muttering that they do not want to be in the same room as' someone like her'._

_Gumi-san, unperturbed, kneels down and takes the scarf to wipe my face, handling me gently and tenderly as if I am made of glass. "I meant it, you know," she says warmly as she cleans me up, "I love you, Hatsune-chan." I open my mouth to say something, but she cuts me off, "I know, you're already spoken for. The pink haired devil, Megurine Luka-sama, right?" Blushing a little, I just nod, knowing that many people have long guessed that my feelings for Luka are much more than platonic._

"_Just let me hold you for today, okay?" she asks as she gently helps me home. "I know you like Megurine-sama; I'm not trying anything. I just want to be closer to you today." Not really understanding, I nod, and she takes me all the way home, makes me something light to eat while I shower and basically spends the rest of the day indulging me and staying close to me. The way she acted… it was as if she would never get to see me again after today. She held me tightly as if she wanted to memorize every inch of my body, and for a moment I saw tears glinting in her eyes as her arms tightened slightly around me…_

_The next day, Gumi-san did not show up for school. I heard that her father had sent her to a special institution which 'cured' lesbians in the city after hearing what Kamui said (according to the gossip, Gumi-san had not denied the accusation when her father questioned her, for she knew that lying would not help in the long run as her father would probably go after me for 'seducing his daughter'). She would only return if the institution felt that she had been successfully 'saved' from the path to Hell and was straight as an arrow._

_I never saw Gumi-san again._

Though I had harbored no romantic feelings toward Gumi-san at all, I had some strings of platonic attachment to the green haired girl. She was nice to me, kind to me, like an elder sister she always looked out for me and pampered me. She could not compare to Luka, no one in the world could, but she was nearly a quarter of the way there. Considering how difficult it is for me to get close to people, a quarter of the way there is pretty impressive.

"That damn Kamui…!" Luka looks even angrier now, "How could he do that to Gumi-san? The poor girl…" I place a hand on Luka's gently to soothe her; it is pointless for her to be angry because nothing will change. Killing Kamui will not change the fact that he broke me, and it will not change the fact that he had caused the deaths of two girls close to me and another not even in the same country as us. His death will not bring them back; his death cannot even atone for what he has done. He has blood on his hands, nothing would ever change that.

Gumi-san committed suicide in the institution a year later, along with more than eighty percent of the girls there; in a mass protest against the institution's belief that lesbian love was not real love and that they were dirty sinners en route to Hell. The institution was charged for child abuse and forcibly shut down, with most of the staff arrested and convicted for various lengthy jail sentences. It was all too late, however, especially for Gumi-san.

Her suicide letter was delivered to my house one year after she disappeared, a few weeks after her death. It bore a simple message that had made me bawl my eyes out for the entire day after I read it. "I hope you will someday find your happiness, Hatsune-chan, and that you will never have to suffer again. I love you. _Megpoid Gumi._"

From the age of eight when Luka left to the age of ten where Gumi-san committed suicide, that was how my life passed by. Indeed, it seemed weird that a love so strong would brew within one as young as Gumi-san and that a cruel streak so terrifying would be present within a boy two years older than I like Kamui, but that was my reality. A string of tragedies, one after another, and the worst was still to come. Had I known that, I would have definitely committed suicide and ended it all before the next three years descended upon me.

If I had, I would have saved _her _life…

**A/N: A mini cliffhanger again! Miku's story is only halfway over, so stick around for the next part, okay? *puppy dog eyes* Please leave me a review if you liked it, it will motivate me to write faster!**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Thank you for all the support, and I am glad that everyone wants to see Luka kick ass. Unfortunately, that will most probably not be happening... I feel you guys, though, I am tempted to have Luka beat them up, but...**

**To StattStatt, thank you for the compliment! I like the Luka here too, violence (with reason) is a surprisingly likeable trait.**

**To yurifans21, Gakupo and Kaito made Miku lie to the teachers so that they would not get found out. You know how bullies threaten their victims not to snitch? Yeah, they did that.**

**To Cosmo Kyrin, sorry to disappoint, but Neru will not be coming back... Many girls that Miku knew after Luka left will never be coming back.**

**To Takogirl, as a bisexual leaning more toward the lesbian side, I agree with you! Homosexuality is not a disease! Thank you for the compliment and I hope this chapter will be an enjoyable read for you!**

**Haruka**

_Previous chapter:_

_From the age of eight when Luka left to the age of ten where Gumi-san committed suicide, that was how my life passed by. Indeed, it seemed weird that a love so strong would brew within one as young as Gumi-san and that a cruel streak so terrifying would be present within boy two years older than I like Kamui, but that was my reality. A string of tragedies, one after another, and the worst was still to come. Had I known that, I would have definitely committed suicide and ended it all before the next three years descended upon me._

_If I had, I would have saved __**her**__ life…_

**[Miku'sPOV]**

"After Gumi-san's death… my sanity started to go downhill…" I struggle to continue remembering the terrible details of my past, feeling the guilt, fear and pain I buried resurface again violently with each passing second, "I gave up hope completely, withdrawing into myself... For the new school year, a new girl from China moved in and joined us." I remember her clearly, there is no way I could ever forget her…

_My seat is at the back of the class in a corner by the window, far enough away from Kamui and Shion to give me some breathing space. I am eleven years old, but I feel so much older than that, so much wearier. I have almost completely forgotten what it was like to be happy, my time with Luka and her promise all feels like a distant dream._

"_Class, we have a new student joining us today," the teacher shouts to catch the class' attention, "She's from China and her name is Luo Tianyi. I hope you all will be nice to her." The teacher beckons to the girl standing at the doorway, smiling warmly as she enters nervously._

_Luo Tianyi is a beautiful girl with long gray hair, bright green eyes and porcelain skin. Shy and introverted, she keeps to herself for the entire day and completely ignores Kamui and Shion, who are trying to get her to join their ranks of pink haired devil haters. Tianyi, as she insisted I call her, grew tired of listening to them trying to make her hate a person she had never met, and she approached me before the day ended for she saw that no one else interacted with me._

_I tried to get her to leave me alone, but she refused to do so, continuing to stay by me as the days pass, even when that led to her being subjected to Kamui's wrath. Having had enough, I exploded at her on a Friday, the week following the one in which she came, shouting, "Everyone hates me because I'm the puppy of the pink haired devil! I am pathetic and no one likes me, so why are you sticking by me?" Tianyi had simply blinked, surprised by my outburst, and then responded with, "I refuse to hate someone I have never met, and you have given me no reason to feel anything but warmth towards you."_

_Kind and an independent thinker, Tianyi's personality was what led her to make the worst mistake of her life, befriending me. I had not known it then, neither of us could have possibly known. When Tianyi was my friend, life was much more bearable, for she was there for me whenever I needed a shoulder to cry on and spoke up for me against Kamui, saving me from a number of beatings by threatening to tell the teachers on him._

_Tianyi lived in one of the houses at the edges of the village where people rarely went, and we spent many days there together, talking. I came to learn that Tianyi was much like me, for she too had a person she loved very much who was not physically with her at the moment, a girl back in China named Yuezheng Ling. I told her about Luka and we reminisced together when we had free time, mourning over the time of our childhood that has passed us by. She too had been bullied for she was shy and introverted; the last straw was when her tormentors locked her in an old shed and set it on fire. She would have lost her life, had Ling not come to her rescue, and shortly after the incident her parents suggested they move to Japan to allow Tianyi a fresh start._

"_I want to return to China," She told me in her perfect Japanese, "I want to find Ling again the moment I am capable of doing so." They were just like Luka and I, and I wished her good luck in finding her beloved again._

_Unfortunately, because Tianyi had befriended me, Ling would never get to see her, living, again. Targeted by Kamui and Shion, my sweet Chinese friend, who was just as small as I was, received the same treatment as I did. She was tormented and beaten, excluded from the class like I was, and she was told that all she had to do was abandon me if she wanted it to stop. Her response was, "I am not such a lowly person as to abandon a friend for my own benefit." Kamui had mocked her, saying that all she was doing was making us suffer together, and she replied, "At least she is not suffering alone."_

_I was touched; I still am touched by Tianyi's fierce loyalty toward me as a friend. When I thanked her she would blush and brush it off as nothing, saying that she is simply doing what will make Ling and herself proud. "I would rather have no life than live a life where I have to look down upon myself," she told me, "That was what Ling taught me." I admire her for that, she had the guts to stick to her conviction and do what she believed was right, regardless of the damage it would cause to herself. I am sure that Ling is proud of her, wherever she is…_

"What happened to her?" Luka asks, she looks torn between being happy that I had someone stand up for me and sad because it had brought that girl so much harm. "Is she still around?" Whether Luka meant 'around' as in 'alive' or 'in the village', I have no idea.

"Tianyi was…" I can barely force the words from my throat; I take a deep breath to steady myself and continue in a hollow voice, "Luo Tianyi died at the age of twelve."

_It was the middle of the second school year since Tianyi arrived when it happened. We were walking home together, or more accurately 'limping' after Kamui's beatings, when said purple haired boy emerged and ordered Shion to take hold of me. Kamui went after Tianyi before she could attempt to attack Shion, grabbing her by the collar and lifting her small body off the ground. Her eyes were narrow slits of anger and fear, but there was no hatred in them. Luo Tianyi was a girl much too kind to ever hate anyone, even someone who deserved being hated like Kamui Gakupo, in the two years we were friends I had never once seen hatred in Tianyi's emerald eyes nor heard her say she disliked anyone._

"_China midget, I'm giving you one last chance. Will you stop being this runt's friend, or will you continue foolishly resisting?" the look on Kamui's face terrified me, I knew that something bad was going to happen if he did not get his way. From the look on Tianyi's face, it was obvious she knew too, but she was not going to give in to him because she feared for her own safety. She told me that she would never be able to forgive herself if she ever did such a despicable thing._

"_My answer remains the same, Kamui," she replied calmly, "Miku-chan is my friend." She was the only person other than Luka that I allowed to call me '__**Miku-chan**__', we had grown quite close, though not as close as I was to Luka and she was to Ling. That, unfortunately, was the reason Tianyi died at such a tender young age._

"_Very well," he dragged her to the edge of the school steps, a steep flight of stairs carved into the face of the mountain that were at least five stories tall, ordering Shion to do the same with me so that he could show us the amount of power he held over us. Coldly, he snarled, "Last chance, midget. Your life or your friend?"_

_Tianyi growled in response, "I would rather die than abandon a friend!" That was the first time I had ever heard Tianyi raise her voice, her eyes blazed with an uncharacteristic ferocity that I never knew she had within her. I called her name weakly, she gave me a smile and our eyes met briefly, showing me the strength of her conviction. She would not regret this, her eyes told me clearly, she meant every word she had said._

"_Your choice," Kamui had shrugged, and then he bunched his muscles, an evil gleam in his purple eyes. "Hatsune, this girl is going to get it because of you." I did not understand what exactly it was he had in mind, and Tianyi seemed not to get it either. Then, the purple haired monster lifted her up, and in one strong movement hurled her down the steps headfirst._

_Our eyes widened in shock as the two monsters watched with smug grins on their human-like faces, I screamed out her name in desperation knowing that I could do nothing to help her. She flashed me a brief smile and mouthed the words, 'I hope you will find your happiness', she seemed to not care at all that her own life would last but mere seconds more._

_Her eyes closed, and I heard her whisper, "I love you, Ling. I'm so sorry…" The wind carried her last words a little farther until it melted away completely, never to reach the ears of the girl she loved. She hit the base of the steps with a sickening crack, her neck snapped instantly and she died immediately. Blood pooled from her broken body as I screamed out her name again, my legs buckling under me as Shion released me._

"_Take this is a lesson, Hatsune. Your pathetic little life will only bring misfortune to others." With that, the two monsters clad in human skin left, leaving me paralyzed and sobbing at the start of the stairs._

_Luo Tianyi was murdered at the age of twelve, and she left the world with a smile on her face._

Luka is pale as a sheet and shaking all over, her anger is radiating off her in waves. She growls, "Why is he still here if he murdered her? Why didn't he get charged?"

"He threatened me..." my voice trails off as the guilt strikes me, "He made me tell them exactly what he and Shion did, that we were walking home when she tripped and fell…" I could not even let the world know how Tianyi died; I could not even avenge my friend for her death and get Kamui charged for the blood on his hands… At the very least, I had delivered Yuezheng Ling the last words of the girl she loved, I had written her a letter and gave it to Tianyi's parents, who were moving back to China, begging them to give it to Ling. In that letter I wrote the truth of that day's events and how grateful and sorry I was that Tianyi befriended me, and I quoted her last words exactly. I told Ling about Kamui's threats and begged her to keep what I told her a secret, because unlike Tianyi I was a weak and despicable person clinging on to my life for Luka's sake. I knew that Ling understood Japanese, Tianyi told me so, and I prayed that the letter would reach her safely.

I received a reply from Yuezheng Ling months later; it was a letter that thanked me for being by Tianyi's side, a letter that told me how proud she was of her beloved, a letter of forgiveness to me who took her lover's life. It was also a letter of farewell, for Yuezheng Ling chose to commit suicide after learning the truth from me, so she could be with her beloved once again.

"How many people have I killed, Luka?" I ask softly, pain and guilt tearing at my heart once more, "Gumi-san, Tianyi, and even Ling… It was my fault that they died!"

Luka envelops me in a tighter embrace, kissing my forehead gently and assuring me, "Their deaths were all Kamui's fault, sweetie, for if he weren't there, all the things that caused them to die would not have happened." Her voice grew hard, "If I ever see him again… I'll make him pay for all the blood on his hands."

"Akita-chan too," I sob softly into Luka's embrace, "She died because of me; her death can't possibly be blamed on Kamui!" My pink haired angel looks at me in confusion, and I take a deep breath and prepare myself to relay yet another tragic story from my past.

I learned all this from a newspaper article titled "_The Akita Tragedy_" that ran shortly after Akita-chan's death. The reason Akita-chan had moved away was because her father, who was working in the city to support them, was wounded in a terrible accident and in intensive care. Akita-chan's mother sold the house and brought her daughter with her to the city, where they lived in the hospital. However, tragedy struck again when Akita-chan's father passed away days later, leaving a huge medical bill that made the two remaining members of his family utterly bankrupt.

Akita-chan's mother always had a frail body, and the terrible conditions in which they lived in the city, scrounging in alleyways and garbage cans, led to her falling sick and passing away, leaving an eight year old girl all by herself in a strange city without a penny to her name nor a place to call home. Akita-chan did not allow the tragedy to faze her; she began a long journey back toward the village through walking and hitch-hiking, barely having enough to eat. One of the people who offered Akita-chan a ride along her journey said, "I asked her what she was doing, all alone on the side of the road and thinner than a stick, and she told me she was trying to get back to her hometown. She said she had a promise to a girl… Hatsune-chan, she called her, to keep."

Even though her family had been torn away from her and her entire life turned upside down, Akita-chan's only concern was me, the girl she knew could not stand up for herself. "I will keep that promise, or die trying," Akita-chan was quoted to have said, and months later they found her dead at the base of the road to our village. She had forged on the last few miles to the base of the mountain all by herself, surviving on berries and rainwater, but when the season ended and wild food became unattainable, Akita-chan lost her only food source. Despite that, she continued heading for home and the girl whom she had promised to protect, and she starved to death.

"It was all because of me, because I am a girl who cannot protect herself, that Akita-chan worried and tried to come back. It is entirely my fault that Akita-chan is dead!" How many lives have I broken and taken? It was the misfortune of so many girls' lives to have met me; they all perished before their time because of me. I have blood on my hands, too…

Luka has gone a sick shade of fish-belly white, her eyes brimming with tears. "Oh Miku… so many girls have given their lives to protect you, while I was selfishly living my life in the city… I could have helped you! Even though there are no means of communication here and letters need to be personally delivered, I could have tried! I did absolutely nothing for you while you suffered… I'm so sorry…" She starts sobbing herself, her tears dripping into my hair, "I could have forced mom to take me back to the village. I could have run away and gone by myself, but I never thought of it… I am so selfish…"

For a moment, we just wallow in our guilt and sorrow, before I break the silence with a shaky "It's not your fault" to Luka. Any other girl would have moved on, would have forgotten the promise we made six years ago, maybe even be embarrassed or disgusted by it. However, Luka came back, and though she missed out chances where she could have visited, her visits would only have served to make my classmates hate me more and give Kamui more ground to torment me. "You're here now, Luka, and that's what matters," I conclude my explanation with teary eyes, gazing deeply into the amazing blue eyes of the girl I love, desperate to show her my sincerity.

She draws me closer and murmurs a 'thank you' in my ear, calming herself down and pulling herself together for she knows the story has not ended. Taking a deep breath to steady my nerves, I prepare myself to unearth the most terrifying of all my memories, shivering uncontrollably as flashes of yellow take up my vision.

Luka kisses my forehead gently, giving me the little bit of strength I need to pull myself out of the past. This is it, the end of my story approaches… "Kagamine Len started to talk to me and try to befriend me shortly after the Akita Tragedy aired in the news…"

"_Why do you keep following me?" I shout at the blonde boy who has been tailing me for the past five months like a lost puppy, despite the fact that I have ignored him and treated him like air. He cringes in terror and responds shakily, "I-I want t-to be your f-friend, H-Hatsune-san. You a-always l-looked so l-lonely, so I-I thought…" I feel instantly apologetic that I have snapped at him, the poor Shota is on the verge of tears and trembling like a leaf. He only wants to be my friend…_

"_I'm sorry I shouted at you," I tell him kindly, "Don't cry. I really appreciate your efforts, Kagamine-san." He looks brighter as he sniffs, "R-really?" He is really like a puppy, Kagamine Len, no wonder all the boys pick on him all the time. Well, they used to, but a rumor has spread around the school that these boys stopped bullying Kagamine Len-san because of his frightening demon of an elder twin sister. Many say she is comparable to Akita Neru, maybe even the pink haired devil herself, and no one dares to even touch a hair on the blonde's head any longer._

_Nodding with a shaky smile, I made the worse mistake of my entire life. I allowed myself to become Kagamine Len's only friend, though 'friend' is not the right word to describe us. The word should be 'acquaintances', for we hold that level of formality and secrecy toward one another. Still, we offered one another a certain level of companionship, and I came to see the little blonde boy as something like the stray kittens one would feed by the roadside or in the park. Not exactly a friend, yet not exactly strangers either, Kagamine Len and I shared a strange relationship._

"I still maintained my distance from him regardless," I gulp, preparing myself to relive the most terrifying incident of the past six years, "Until…"

_I have no idea what happened, all I know is that Kagamine Len-san did not show up for school today and that there is a rumor spreading that I beat him up. People are saying that I have taken after my 'master', the pink haired devil, and have started to hurt others for no reason. I have honestly no clue what happened to Len-san, I hear he has a broken leg because someone attacked him. I hope it was not Kamui and Shion that did it; they should not be foolish enough to go after Kagamine Rin's younger brother…_

_School has ended and I am packing my bag when I hear someone storm into the class shouting my name. Confused, I look up, and all the blood drains from my face when I see the elder Kagamine twin standing at the doorway of the classroom. Everyone flees as quickly as they can; only Kamui and Shion linger in the hallway with twisted grins on their sick faces._

"_You pretended to be Len's friend and then hurt him so badly! What kind of monster are you?!" the blonde is absolutely livid, her sapphire blue eyes smoldering with barely restrained hatred and anger. Still confused, I stutter, "W-what do you mean, K-Kagamine-san…?"_

_The blonde looks even more furious than before, "Now you're playing dumb? How could you?! Len is in the hospital because of you!" Understanding now, I realize that this girl thinks I was the one who harmed her twin. Why would she think that…? Len could testify that I did nothing at all; I am much too weak to harm anything but a vegetable! "It wasn't m-me, K-Kagamine-san. I swear, you can ask Len-san…"_

_Kagamine Rin explodes, fury dripping off her every word, "You have the guts to say that, Hatsune? Len __**said it was you who did this to him!**__" What? Len-san did…? It cannot be possible; I did not even see the blonde boy at all yesterday! Why did he lie to his elder sister? Why is he framing me for something that I cannot possibly do?_

_The livid blonde approaches me and I stumble back in terror, tripping over the books and files scattered by the students in their haste to flee from the elder Kagamine twin. I keep repeating that I was not the one who harmed Len-san, begging her to listen to me and to believe me, but she is beyond reasoning with. Kagamine Rin is out for blood, my blood, and I fear that I will not be able to get away with my life._

_The first blow that connects with my small body sends me flying to the other end of the room. I hit the wall and cry out, hitting the ground heavily and the blonde flies at me immediately. Her fists collide with my weak body, overwhelming my mind with the pain, but it seems nothing worse than what Kamui and Shion do to me on a daily basis. Crying and begging for mercy under her, I secretly hope that things will not get any worse so that I can survive to wait for Luka. I endure the pain, my ear-splitting screams shattering the air as every blow brings a searing white pain more intense than the one before, my heart racing in my chest._

_Suddenly, she backs off, and I heave an internal sigh of relief. It should be over now, I hope, and I will be able to drag myself home and tend to my bruises... Little did I know how wrong I was, Kagamine Rin was not even halfway done with her vengeance. Forcing my swollen eyes open, I am greeted by the sight of the small blonde with a table in her hand, emptied of all the contents stored under it. Terror grips my heart and I look up at her like a frightened lamb, helpless to do anything but accept her fate. The furious look on her face makes her seem absolutely inhuman, my blood freezes as she swings the table violently at my wounded body…_

"_AAAAAAAHHH!" the pain jolted through my body, an intense agony that blanked my mind for way too many seconds. Again and again, Kagamine Rin swings the table at me, the plastic and metal striking and scraping my body, filling my mind with the unbearable pain. The sounds of her weapon striking my body echoes through the room, and it is not long before the sound of cracking bone is heard._

"_UWAAAAAAAAHHHH!" my arm… oh goddess, my arm… it burns, it burns… Amaterasu, if you are watching over me, please take away the pain… "AAAAAHHHHH!" Please, not my arm again… the bone has already shattered… goddess, it's ripping through my skin… "AAAAHHHH!" Stop, stop it… please! I can feel my blood, warm and sticky, running out from the burning wound in my arm… I'm scared… it hurts… Luka, please save me…_

_The table strikes my ribs this time, the blow knocks the wind out of my lungs and I spit out blood; my ribs are burning too, they too have been broken. Repeatedly, Kagamine Rin strikes me without mercy, her next target being my remaining intact arm. The loud crack of breaking bone fills the room and my scream pierces the air barely a nanosecond after it, "AAAAAAAHHH!" It hurts so much… goddess, please save me! Am I really going to die like this?_

_She only backs off from my arm when the bone has been shattered almost entirely, shards of it digging through my flesh, liberating blood to stain the floor in copious amounts. The pain is blinding, my mind itself is stinging, my upper body feels as if it is alight, constantly piercing me with agony. Not yet satisfied, she moves on to my legs, swinging the weapon at me with more strength than before. Fueled by fury, the blows are unrestrained and wild, I can barely even breathe right now and my throat has been screamed raw. The cracking sound and the agony that washes over me from my leg tells me that my shin has been broken, I shriek in agony and try again to flee blindly, simply receiving a blow to the knee from the elder Kagamine twin._

_The bone breaks easily, tearing through my flesh again, a jagged white stick protruding from a scarlet red, raw and bleeding hole in my skin. Purplish bruises stain the area around it, the sight sickens me so much that I immediately clamp my bruised eyes shut to keep out the horror. Pain swirls in my skull, a mixture of piercing and throbbing, and I can barely feel my body any longer. However, my torture has not ended, I have a single leg that remains unbroken, and I have no idea if she means to smash my skull as a finishing act._

"_AAAAHHHH!" my leg is reduced to a shattered and pulpy mess of blood and bone before she moves on to her next target, easily breaking my bones once more. Screaming, I resign myself to the fact that I will not leave this room with my life. Darkness is licking at the edges of my consciousness; my mind is slowly going numb. It is painful to breathe, the very rise and fall of my chest brings with it a searing agony like a knife being twisted in my ribs. My voice is hoarse and weak; I do not even have the energy to scream any longer. I can barely whimper as the blows continue raining upon me, and as the black waves of unconsciousness claim me, I whisper an apology to my Luka for not being able to wait for her return…_

"I woke up in the hospital three weeks later in this condition and over the last year steadily deteriorated…" Waking up in that sanitized white bed was one of the most disappointing and terrifying experiences of my life. I was utterly disappointed that I had survived, and my mind had shattered so badly during Kagamine Rin's beating that the frightened girl I was before, who broke down at the slightest touch and was reduced to a mess at the mere sight of purple or blue, seemed sane and normal. I could not stand the very presence of people any longer, they reminded me of all the pain I had endured, and I wanted to forget. In a way, I was in denial of my past, unable to come to terms with the painful and horrific events that marked those five years of my existence. I wanted so badly to wish all those days away, to treat them like a terrible nightmare, but I could not.

I no longer possessed the ability to trust people, or to even be in the same room with them, for I feared that they would hurt me. Locked in an eternal rerun of the worst five years of my entire life, I thought of humans as demons, shadowy creatures that sought to utterly crush and annihilate me until not a fragment of me remained. However… Luka just made me relive and acknowledge those terrible years, forcing me to come to terms with the fact that they indeed happened and nothing I do can change that fact.

"Miku…" Luka is trembling all over, cradling me as if I were made of glass, "Oh goddess, I can't believe all that happened to you… I'm so sorry, sweetie… You are such a strong girl…" Sobbing softly, my pink haired angel envelops me with her warmth, trying to process the magnitude of all I have told her. Crying myself, I snuggle into the softness of her chest, finally having acknowledged the events of my past that I will never be able to deny.

**A/N: School will start up again next week, so I will not be able to update much. Please be patient with me! Though, what you've been waiting for is already out in the open, so only the fluff remains, and payback.**

**Please leave me a review if you, uhm, liked the chapter! Thank you in advance!**

**Haruka**


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Sorry for the long wait! I was having writer's block for a couple of my stories and had a lot going on… *dodges bricks* I am sorry that this chapter is kind of a filler, I just don't want it to move too fast so I can save my final few surprises :)**

**To StattStatt, thanks for the compliment! Yeah, I hate Gakupo and Kaito too, and I hope I will be able to do something bad to them in the end *evil laugh***

**To Takogirl, thanks:) Oh, by the way, her name is Tianyi, not Luo. Luo is her surname. **

**To RandomOtaku01, in this story, Tianyi's just an ordinary girl, but she definitely deserves to be an angel after what she did for Miku!**

**To Stalker01, it will be revealed with time. Wait for my surprise:D**

**To AceVoodoo, I am glad that you finally see that homophobia is wrong and hurts people unnecessarily. Welcome to the fold!**

**To Truna, we will all find out what happened with time! I have to keep some surprises up my sleeve now that the story is ending!**

**To KM, sharpen the pitchforks and light the torches! Let us all hunt down Gakupo and Kaito and give them what they deserve! Unfortunately, Luka will not be doing anything to them…**

**To Rogue Kaiser, I do love Miku, I just love writing angst more:) Try not to stay up too late reading (though I am guilty of that myself…)**

**To ZeroroGX, thanks for the support! And, like Rogue Kaiser, please do not stay up too late to read! We all need sleep after all!**

**Thank you to everyone else who reviewed! I am delighted that so many people are hooked onto this story, I love you all!**

**Haruka**

**Luka's POV**

I can hardly believe what I have heard, I can only cradle my sweet Miku and wait for her to fall asleep, assuring her that I will never let that which she has endured ever happen to her again. How in the world could a bunch of pre-teen boys mutate into teenage monsters capable of taking others' lives without guilt?

Kamui and Shion seem to be the manifestation of evil in this village, destroying others' lives and murdering without qualms. After all they have done, after all the harm they have caused to others, these boys are still cocky and try to flirt with me whenever I have the misfortune of running in to them. How can they even live with themselves? With all the blood staining their hands, why is it that they are still walking with their heads held high?

And the Kagamine twins, how could that _Shota_ lie to his sister like that? He obviously knows who the real culprits are, so why did he blame it on my sweetheart? My Miku doesn't have the strength to bruise an apple, let alone break a boy's bones; does that Kagamine Rin know anything? How could they hurt her so badly?!

My blood boils, I desire to rip them all to pieces and scatter their remains all over the world so they will never be able to find peace in the afterlife, mutilated as they are. I want to attain some sort of vengeance for Miku before I kill them, subject them to agonizing torture so they can have a glimpse of the suffering she endured due to them. I want to string them up and use them as punching bags, every single one of them, and I want to rip out Kamui's guts and bring them into his mouth before I kill him. Bloody, brutal torture, that is what every single one of them deserves for all they have done to Miku!

However, I will not be doing anything to them. Miku is the kind of girl who is so kind and gentle and loving that she will feel guilty if I kill her tormentors. She will take the blame of their deaths upon her, adding to the list of people who died due to her. It will hurt her, and I will never do anything to harm Miku. She is a girl who will apologize to you if you kicked her, there is no way such a girl would ever condone revenge.

_Oh Miku… why does a girl as sweet and beautiful as you have to endure such suffering? You deserve so much better than what you have been given… it is not fair at all, why did you have to go through all that? Why couldn't I have been here for you? Why was I so stupid and selfish? Why didn't I even think about coming to visit you?_

Stroking her hair gently, I marvel at the peaceful look on her gaunt features, it seems that telling her story has helped take some of the burdens off her fragile shoulders. Hopefully, with my help, Miku will be able to mend, and she will be able to live outside of a mental institution.

I will never be able to get the old Miku back, all those days we shared together have disappeared forever and I will never get to live them again. However, I will be able to achieve a different bright future with my Miku; it just requires more effort on both our parts. There is a lot of work to be done to heal the terrible wounds that have inflicted her soul and terrorized her every living second, and I will not slacken for even a moment. I owe her as much, after all I have done.

And to think that I was worried about her becoming an alcoholic, a playgirl; my Miku will never be capable of such changes. She is much too sweet, fragile and kind; she will never do anything to upset others if she can help it. Poor Miku… she has gone through a torment far darker than my own, yet has a heart so much purer... She deserves to be an angel, not to be tortured at the hands of the world's most cruel a**holes!

I had faced bullies as well, but they were not as cruel as those who hurt Miku. In the city, I endured taunts for my pink hair and, as I grew, my curvy body. Girls often called me a "boob monster" since I had B-cups at the age of thirteen, and boys picked on me for my hair and aloof attitude. I sat quietly in my seat and allowed all their words to wash over me like water over a swan's back; I could not care less what these lowlifes thought of me. They were insects crawling at my feet, undeserving of any attention whatsoever. As long as Miku still thought well of me, I would be perfectly content.

One day, one of the boys went too far, rummaging in my bag when I was called out to the principal's office to discuss my anti-social attitude. He found the picture of Miku I always kept there and vandalized it, drawing vulgar symbols over my sweet Miku's adorable face and then pinning it up on the noticeboard. I was walking back to class when I saw him, grinning stupidly, with that photograph in one hand and a pin in the other.

I walked quietly to his side and he dropped both items in his hands in shock, watching nervously as I bent down to pick up my precious photograph. Seeing the middle fingers, private parts and swear words scrawled all over the glossy surface of the photo made my blood boil; I stood up calmly and suddenly struck out at him with one clenched fist.

The boy went flying, crashing into the side of the classroom with a cry of pain. His nose bled and his eye began to swell, an ugly bruise forming over it. With a cry of horror, he clutched at his face, the entire class staring quietly at us both. I could feel the fear building in both the boy and my classmates, they never thought me capable of such violence.

I walked over to him calmly, every footstep I made that echoed in the eerily quiet room made everyone flinch in horror; it was their first time seeing the pink-haired devil and they were all scared stiff. When I reached that boy's side, I grabbed him by the hair and hissed, "Who else did this?"

Squeaking in terror, he pointed out four other boys and two girls, and I turned on them in a flash. Bleeding noses, bruised eyes, twisted ankles, I gave every single one of them a single helping of each. For the fake blonde who called my sweet Miku a slut to my face, I gave 'special treatment' by breaking her wrist singlehandedly. No one else dared to step out and help them, I heard later that a number of them believed I was right in beating them up for they should not have vandalized my property and then insult a girl they did not even know. I knew then that Miku's innocence, even shining from a simple photograph, was enough to win the hearts of others.

After that day, no one ever dared to mess with me again. It was only until Lily started bugging me that I had a friend other than Miku at last, and it was only Lily who dared to cross me and could still come back alive, though bruised and battered.

If I had been here, I could have easily scared Miku's attackers away, taken away Kamui and Shion's fathers' days with a well-placed kick between the legs. I could have done so much for her, if only I had been around…!

Shaking the negative thoughts out of my head, I give Miku a kiss on the forehead and leave the hospital for a nice long walk to blow off steam. Everyone scatters out of my way when they spot me, clearly able to read the murderous aura I am emitting and obviously concerned for their own lives. I pass by the Kagamine house, where I spot the small blonde male from before playing with the same kitten. Kagamine Len… who would have thought he was capable of hurting someone so badly they lost their mind?

Fury renewed, I walk along familiar paths, trying to calm myself. I end up at the base of the stairs leading to the only schools in the village, which leads me to recall Miku's painful story about her friend Tianyi's death. Looking up at the long flight of stairs, I cringe inwardly as I imagine the pain she must have felt when she crashed to the ground, the moment before she died…

"Hey, pretty lady, we meet again," the cocky voice of Shion Kaito makes my blood boil further as I whirl around to face him, eyes blazing. He chuckles, looking very amused, "Why do you loathe my company so?"

"Get out of my sight _now_," I growl, giving him a chance to save himself before I lose control of the devil that is trying to claw its way to the surface. He still looks amused, either unable to read my mood or assuming that I am pretending, and I remember something that will hopefully get this boy out of my sight. "You look awfully calm for someone facing the pink haired devil he and his master sounded so frightened of."

The blue haired boy flinches a little, and then sizes me up carefully. Smirking, he replies, "Nice try, lady, but you are definitely not a devil of any kind. Maybe in bed…" He raises an eyebrow suggestively, looking extremely pleased with himself.

That is it, I throw my self-control out the window as I give him one last warning, "You'd better run, Shion, or you'll be getting the same treatment as your master."

The look in his eyes changes immediately, and he asks incredulously if I was the one who beat Kamui up a while ago. I nod, watching as the blue haired boy's face pales; I have obviously done a sizable amount of damage to this little puppy's master. He takes a step back, looking unsure now, "You're lying."

I crack my knuckles, a positively murderous aura blazing almost visibly around me now, remaining silent. He takes another step back, his eyes widening with fear. Another step, another, and then he turns and breaks out into a run, his scarf flying out behind him. I take a deep, steadying breath and smash my clenched fist against the rock face of the mountain, exhaling slowly as I do so. A small but visible crack appears in the stone, and I resist the urge to strike again.

Violence begets violence, vengeance begets vengeance, it is a vicious cycle and I should not continue it. If I do kill Kamui and Shion, they will have friends or lovers who will want my blood for revenge. If they succeed, Lily will be after their guts with a broken beer bottle, and after she hurts them, someone else who cared for them will continue the cycle… There is a saying for this, what was it… "An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind." That is why I will stop this cycle here, even though it means allowing Miku's demons to escape unscathed.

Hopefully, life will get them back, but we all know that the devil looks after his own. Hmm, maybe the devil will do me a favor and hurt them for me as a reward for all the hurt I have caused others… I have never felt guilty about hurting others and I never will, but at least I did not go to the extent of Kamui and Shion, killing innocent girls for no reason at all. I only strike out at those who annoy me or my friends.

Sighing deeply, I make my way down to the old clearing where we played as kids and climb our favorite tree, allowing warm memories to wash away the black anger and hatred that bubbles vehemently in my soul.

_The watery light of sunset shines over the little clearing where two small girls are lying on their stomachs, a drawing pad and a pack of crayons between them. The pink haired and taller of the two girls is sketching and coloring as the turquoise haired girl tells a story._

"_No one wanted the two princesses to be together, so they were really sad," Miku narrates, watching my younger self draw exactly what is going on in the story. Patiently, she waits for me to finish drawing the scene and writing the little captions, admiring my work. It is a surprisingly good drawing for someone so young; mom told me I had an innate talent for art._

_A turquoise haired princess with a traditional hairstyle and clothes is crying in the arms of a pink haired princess in a prince's clothing. The pink haired girl is cradling her gently, eyes closed, as silent tears leak down her pale cheeks. When I am finished, I turn to a fresh page with a smile and ask Miku to continue with the story._

"_The turquoise haired princess decided to run away, and the pink haired princess agreed. They escaped from the palace one night, guided by the light of the full moon." I immediately begin sketching the scene, careful not to stain the paper with the smudges of color over my hands. Running barefoot in light kimonos, the two princesses are fleeing from a large and dark castle in the background. Hand-in-hand, they run toward the viewer of the picture, the bluish-silvery-white moon shining over them gently._

"_It's beautiful," Miku breathes over my shoulder as I color, giving the sky a gradient from blue to navy to midnight. I thank her with a smile, telling her that I can only draw something so beautiful because she is telling me a beautiful story. Blushing, Miku protests, I simply grin at her and insist that my words are true._

"_Alright, please continue the story," I announce when I have finished, flipping the page with one hand and wiping the other on the grass, trying to remove the smudges of color from my skin._

_Smiling, Miku continues, "They ran and ran until they left the country, and came to a village far away from home where they decided to stay. They worked together as maids for a rich family, and though they were unaccustomed to it, they were happy because they were together." I start sketching outlines again, the pink haired princess carrying a load of laundry while the turquoise haired one hangs them out to dry. They are both smiling warmly at each other, dressed in less fabulous and detailed clothes._

_Scene after scene of their life flows onto the page, a joint effort by Miku's imagination and my hand, and at the final page, Miku narrates a wedding scene. I draw the two princesses kissing, giving them elaborate traditional wedding outfits and forcing color out of the dying nubs of the crayons we brought. When I have finished, the pink and turquoise crayons are on their last legs, the blue ones have mostly died. Smiling proudly, the two of us inspect our picture book until mom's voice draws us back to the village._

_Mom was really impressed by our work, so were Miku's parents and my dad. Miku insisted I keep it, and I have treasured the sketch pad and cared for it as if it were a royal treasure. To me, it was an irreplaceable and valuable item I loved; I studied it carefully in the city on days where I missed my Miku most. I have never let anyone else look it at it, not even my close friend Lily, for it was much too precious for just anyone to look at._

Remembering the picture book fondly, I decide to head back home and look for it. I had every single page laminated to preserve it back in the city, and I want to show it to Miku and ask her if she can still remember the story. As I walk home, I realize that the picture book probably told our parents of our sexualities way before we realized it ourselves. Two princesses deeply in love, two princesses who looked like us… it was basically a confession of our feelings before we even noticed them. No wonder my parents are totally accepting of it now, they have long prepared themselves to accept my sexuality thanks to the hints I kept dropping, and the signs from Miku that she most probably reciprocated my feelings...

Looking through my drawer, I locate the sketchbook, made thicker by the layers of plastic protecting the pages, and flip through it slowly. The childish handwriting of a much younger me at the top of the page, the beautiful pictures of two girls seeking a happy ending… If only things could have turned out so well for us both…

Tears drip down my cheeks and onto the final page of the sketchbook, the kiss between the two princesses and their happily ever after. I had used the two of us as models for the princesses, trying my best to imagine what we would look like in the future, and I was honestly not very far off. The difference between the drawing of Miku and Miku now is that she looks so much happier, less haunted and less gaunt in the picture than in real life.

Hopefully, I will be able to heal her enough to allow her to feel happy again, to laugh and smile again, though I know that the old Miku will never return. The carefree turquoise haired girl who saw the world through the innocent eyes of a child is gone, dead, and I can never bring her back again. However, I can bring back someone as close to her as possible if I try hard enough.

I return to the hospital with the sketchbook in my hands, laying it on the table next to my peacefully sleeping Miku, to show it to her when she awakes. As she sleeps, I think of what we should do tomorrow for her fourteenth birthday; it should be something fun and lighthearted so it can lift her spirits. _The happy ending we dreamed of is still within reach, though along the way things have changed and forced us to change. It will take more work, but that happiness is still attainable. I believe in that with all my heart; I will believe in that always._

**A/N: I'm really sorry that it is so short despite the really long wait; I've really struggled to get this chapter out... I will try to update faster next time, but I cannot make any promises! Please leave me a review, they are much appreciated!**

**A very apologetic**

**Haruka**


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